The 2010–11 Top League Challenge Series was the 2010–11 edition of the Top League Challenge Series, a second-tier rugby union competition in Japan, in which teams from regionalised leagues competed for promotion to the Top League for the 2011–12 season. The competition was contested from 19 December 2010 to 29 January 2011.
Honda Heat and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won promotion to the 2011–12 Top League, while Canon Eagles and Kyuden Voltex progressed to the promotion play-offs.
Competition rules and information
The top two teams from the regional Top East League, Top West League and Top Kyūshū League qualified to the Top League Challenge Series. The regional league winners participated in Challenge 1, while the runners-up participated in Challenge 2. The winner of Challenge 2 also progressed to a four-team Challenge 1.
The top two teams in Challenge 1 won automatic promotion to the 2011–12 Top League, while the third and fourth-placed teams qualified to the promotion play-offs.
Qualification
The teams qualified to the Challenge 1 and Challenge 2 series through the 2010 regional leagues.
Top West League
The final standings for the 2010 Top West League were:
2010 Top West League standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts 1 NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes 4 4 0 0 176 31 +145 4 0 20 2 Honda Heat (R) 4 3 0 1 266 53 +213 3 1 16 3 Chubu Electric Power 4 2 0 2 86 100 −14 1 0 9 4 Osaka Police 4 1 0 3 105 134 −29 1 1 6 5 Mitsubishi Red Evolutions 4 0 0 4 14 329 −315 0 0 0 Legend: P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points. (R) indicates a team newly relegated from the Top League.
NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes qualified for Challenge 1. Honda Heat qualified for Challenge 2. Mitsubishi Red Evolutions were relegated to lower leagues.
Top East League
The final standings for the 2010 Top East League were:
2010 Top East League standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts 1 Canon Eagles 11 11 0 0 641 39 +548 10 0 54 2 Tokyo Gas 11 10 0 1 511 151 +360 9 0 49 3 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 11 9 0 2 554 129 +425 9 1 46 4 Kamaishi Seawaves 11 7 0 4 371 231 +140 9 2 39 5 Kurita Water 11 7 0 4 288 260 +28 6 1 35 6 Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars 11 6 0 5 351 224 +127 5 2 31 7 IBM Big Blue 11 4 0 7 232 412 −180 4 0 20 8 Hino Red Dolphins (P) 11 3 0 8 242 390 −148 3 2 17 9 Akita Northern Bullets 11 3 0 8 238 414 −176 4 1 17 10 Suntory Foods 11 3 0 8 145 504 −359 2 0 14 11 Secom Rugguts 11 3 0 8 133 451 −318 1 0 13 12 JAL Wings 11 0 0 11 128 575 −447 1 0 1 Legend: P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points. (P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.
Canon Eagles qualified for Challenge 1. Tokyo Gas qualified for Challenge 2. JAL Wings, Secom Rugguts and Suntory Foods were relegated to lower leagues.
Top Kyūshū League
The final standings for the 2010 Top Kyūshū League were:
2010 Top Kyūshū League standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts 1 Kyuden Voltex 6 6 0 0 498 43 +455 6 0 30 2 Mazda Blue Zoomers 6 5 0 1 456 119 +337 5 0 25 3 JR Kyūshū Thunders 6 4 0 2 136 181 −45 3 0 19 4 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 6 3 0 3 122 314 −192 3 0 15 5 Chugoku Electric Power 6 2 0 4 148 192 −44 2 1 11 6 Yamagataya (P) 6 1 0 5 112 348 −236 1 0 5 7 Kagoshima Bank 6 0 0 6 81 365 −284 1 2 3 Legend: P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points. (P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.
Kyuden Voltex qualified for Challenge 1. Mazda Blue Zoomers qualified for Challenge 2. Kagoshima Bank and Yamagataya were relegated to lower leagues.
Challenge 1
Standings
The final standings for the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 1 were:
2010–11 Top League Challenge 1 standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts 1 NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes 3 3 0 0 111 28 +83 2 0 14 2 Honda Heat 3 2 0 1 85 74 +11 1 1 10 3 Canon Eagles 3 1 0 2 71 88 −17 3 0 7 4 Kyuden Voltex 3 0 0 3 39 116 −77 0 0 0 Legend: P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points.
Honda Heat and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won promotion to the 2011–12 Top League. Canon Eagles and Kyuden Voltex progressed to the promotion play-offs.
Matches
The following matches were played in the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 1:
Challenge 2
Standings
The final standings for the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 2 were:
2010–11 Top League Challenge 2 standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts 1 Honda Heat 2 2 0 0 92 42 +50 2 0 10 2 Tokyo Gas 2 1 0 1 68 62 +6 1 0 5 3 Mazda Blue Zoomers 2 0 0 2 49 105 −56 0 0 0 Legend: P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points.
Honda Heat progressed to Challenge 1.
Matches
The following matches were played in the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 2:
See also
2010–11 Top League Top League Challenge Series
References