From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

2009–10 Top League

Field	Value
image	Topleague09-10final.JPG
imagesize	300px
caption	Season finale for 2009–10: Toshiba versus Sanyo.
countries	Japan Japan
date	4 September 2009 - 9 January 2010
champions	Toshiba Brave Lupus (5th title)
runnersup	Sanyo Wild Knights
prevseason	2008–09
nextseason	2010–11

The 2009–10 Top League was the seventh season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated the Sanyo Wild Knights by 6–0 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their fifth Top League championship.

The Top League is a semi-professional competition which is at the top of the national league system in Japan, with promotion and relegation between the next level down.

Changes

Honda Heat and Ricoh Black Rams were promoted to the Top League, replacing IBM Big Blue and Yokogawa Atlastars who were relegated.
Last season's rule change of allowing three overseas players on the field at any one time was altered for the 2009–10 season; one of the three overseas players must have already represented Japan, be currently eligible to represent Japan or eligible to represent Japan in the future.
Teams are allowed to field one player from the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) outside the above restrictions on overseas players. That Asian player may have represented another country at Test, A or Sevens levels as long as that country is a Union member of the ARFU.
Last season the top six finishers automatically qualified for the national championship; however, this season the top four qualify, with the teams that finish 5th to 10th playing off for the remaining two Top League qualifiers.

Teams

Team	Region	Season
Coca-Cola West Red Sparks	Fukuoka, Kyushu	4
Fukuoka Sanix Blues	Fukuoka, Kyushu	6
Honda Heat	Suzuka, Mie	1
Kintetsu Liners	Osaka, Kansai	4
Kobelco Steelers	Hyogo, Kansai	7
Kubota Spears	Chiba, Kanto	7
Kyuden Voltex	Fukuoka, Kyushu	3
NEC Green Rockets	Chiba, Kanto	7
Ricoh Black Rams	Tokyo, Kanto	6
Sanyo Wild Knights	Gunma, Kanto	7
Suntory Sungoliath	Tokyo, Kanto	7
Toshiba Brave Lupus	Tokyo, Kanto	7
Toyota Verblitz	Aichi, Tokai	6
Yamaha Jubilo	Shizuoka, Tokai	7

Regular season

Final standings

Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus
1	[[File:Sanyowildknights.png	18px]] Sanyo Wild Knights	13	12	1	0	534	175	+359
2	[[File:Suntorycolours.png	18px]] Suntory Sungoliath	13	11	2	0	570	195	+375
3	[[File:Toshibabravelupus.png	18px]] Toshiba Brave Lupus	13	10	0	3	436	276	+160
4	[[File:Toyotaverblitz.png	18px]] Toyota Verblitz	13	10	1	2	394	219	+175
5	[[File:Kobesteelers.png	18px]] Kobelco Steelers	13	7	1	5	343	303	+40
6	[[File:Kubotaspears.png	18px]] Kubota Spears	13	6	0	7	313	339	−26
7	[[File:Fukuokasanixblues.png	18px]] Fukuoka Sanix Blues	13	6	0	7	311	371	−60
8	[[File:Redsparkscolours.png	18px]] Coca-Cola West Red Sparks	13	7	0	6	299	448	−149
9	[[File:Yamahajubilo.png	18px]] Yamaha Jubilo	13	5	2	6	311	327	−14
10	[[File:NECgreenrockets.png	18px]] NEC Green Rockets	13	4	0	9	224	280	−56
11	[[File:Kintetsuliners.png	18px]] Kintetsu Liners	13	4	1	8	218	348	−130
12	[[File:Ricohblackrams.png	18px]] Ricoh Black Rams	13	4	0	9	262	422	−160
13	[[File:Hondaheat.png	18px]] Honda Heat	13	1	0	12	255	464	−209
14	[[File:Kyudenvoltex.png	18px]] Kyuden Voltex	13	0	0	13	199	502	−303

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Round 2

{{anchor|Cup}} Title play-offs

Top four sides of the regular season competed for the Top League Championship (the play-offs were not sponsored for the 2009–10 season). The teams competing were Toshiba Brave Lupus, Sanyo Wild Knights, Toyota Verblitz and Suntory Sungoliath.

Semi-finals

Final

Wildcard play-offs

The two second round winners qualified for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

First round

The Top League teams ranked 7th and 10th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 5th in the second round. The Top League teams ranked 8th and 9th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 6th in the second round.

-- So Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and NEC progressed to the second round.

Second round

The Top League team ranked 5th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 7th and 10th, and the Top League team ranked 6th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 8th and 9th. The two winning second round teams advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

-- So Kobe and NEC advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

Top League Challenge Series

Main article: 2010 Top League Challenge Series

NTT Communications Shining Arcs and Toyota Industries Shuttles won promotion to the 2010–11 Top League via the 2010 Top League Challenge Series, while Mazda Blue Zoomers and Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars progressed to the promotion play-offs.

Promotion and relegation play-offs

Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played. The Top League team ranked 12th played-off against the Challenge 1 team ranked 3rd, and the Top League team ranked 11th played-off against the Challenge 2 team ranked 1st. The winners were included in the Top League for the following season.

So Kintetsu and Ricoh remained in the Top League for the following season.

Top Ten Points Scorers

Player	Team	Pts	T	C	PG	DG
1	Atsushi Tanabe	[[File:Sanyowildknights.png	18px]] Sanyo Wild Knights	191	4	48	25
2	Ryan Nicholas	[[File:Suntorycolours.png	18px]] Suntory Sungoliath	173	6	46	17
3	Shaun Webb	[[File:Redsparkscolours.png	18px]] Coca-Cola West Red Sparks	150	2	28	16
4	Shane Drahm	[[File:Kubotaspears.png	18px]] Kubota Spears	135	2	28	16
5	David Hill	[[File:Toshibabravelupus.png	18px]] Toshiba Brave Lupus	122	4	39	8
6	Ayumu Goromaru	[[File:Yamahajubilo.png	18px]] Yamaha Jubilo	111	0	27	19
7	Yoshimitsu Kawano	[[File:Ricohblackrams.png	18px]] Ricoh Black Rams	102	1	23	15
8	Orene Ai'i	[[File:Toyotaverblitz.png	18px]] Toyota Verblitz	80	4	21	5
9	Hirotoki Onozawa	[[File:Suntorycolours.png	18px]] Suntory Sungoliath	70	14	0	0
10	Tomoki Kitagawa	[[File:Sanyowildknights.png	18px]] Sanyo Wild Knights	80	4	21	5

Table notes

Pts = Points scored
T = Tries
C = Conversions
PG = Penalty Goals
DG = Drop Goals

End-of-season awards

Team awards

Award	Winner
Top League winners:
Fair Play award:
Best fans:

Individual awards

Award	Winner
Top League MVP:	JPN
Rookie award:	JPN
Most tries:	JPN
Top scorer:	JPN
Best kicker:	JPN
Best referee:	JPN
Playoffs MVP:	JPN
Special prize:	JPN

Team of the season

#	Winner
1.	JPN
2.	JPN
3.	JPN
4.	JPN
5.	JPN
6.	JPN
7.	JPN
8.	JPN
9.	JPN
10.	JPN
11.	JPN
12.	JPN
13.	JPN
14.	JPN
15.	JPN

References

"2009/10 Top League". The Rugby Archive.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

japan-rugby-league-one 2009–10-in-japanese-rugby-union 2009–10-rugby-union-tournaments-for-clubs

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 2009–10 Top League — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report