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.
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.
Four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for losing by seven or less (BP2). If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: • Difference between points for and against • Total number of points for • Number of matches won • Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams • Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Fixtures and resultsedit
This section needs expansion with: Results Rd 3 - 13 (source top-league.jp). You can help by adding to it. (November 2013)
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.
This section needs expansion with: Results (source rugbyarchive.net). You can help by adding to it. (November 2013)
First roundedit
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 roundedit
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.
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.
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The 2009 10 Top League was the seventh season of Japan s domestic rugby union competition the Top League The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated Sanyo Wild Knights by 6 0 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their fifth Top League championship 2009 10 Top LeagueSeason finale for 2009 10 Toshiba versus Sanyo CountriesJapanDate4 September 2009 9 January 2010ChampionsToshiba Brave Lupus 5th title Runners upSanyo Wild Knights 2008 092010 11 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 Contents 1 Changes 2 Teams 3 Regular season 3 1 Final standings 3 2 Fixtures and results 3 2 1 Round 1 3 2 2 Round 2 4 Title play offs 4 1 Semi finals 4 2 Final 5 Wildcard play offs 5 1 First round 5 2 Second round 6 Top League Challenge Series 7 Promotion and relegation play offs 8 Top Ten Points Scorers 9 End of season awards 10 References 11 External linksChanges editHonda 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 editTeam Region SeasonCoca Cola West Red Sparks Fukuoka Kyushu 4Fukuoka Sanix Blues Fukuoka Kyushu 6Honda Heat Suzuka Mie 1Kintetsu Liners Osaka Kansai 4Kobelco Steelers Hyogo Kansai 7Kubota Spears Chiba Kanto 7Kyuden Voltex Fukuoka Kyushu 3NEC Green Rockets Chiba Kanto 7Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo Kanto 6Sanyo Wild Knights Gunma Kanto 7Suntory Sungoliath Tokyo Kanto 7Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo Kanto 7Toyota Verblitz Aichi Tokai 6Yamaha Jubilo Shizuoka Tokai 7Regular season editFinal standings edit Top League TableClub Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points1 nbsp Sanyo Wild Knights 13 12 1 0 534 175 359 592 nbsp Suntory Sungoliath 13 11 2 0 570 195 375 583 nbsp Toshiba Brave Lupus 13 10 0 3 436 276 160 524 nbsp Toyota Verblitz 13 10 1 2 394 219 175 485 nbsp Kobelco Steelers 13 7 1 5 343 303 40 386 nbsp Kubota Spears 13 6 0 7 313 339 26 317 nbsp Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13 6 0 7 311 371 60 318 nbsp Coca Cola West Red Sparks 13 7 0 6 299 448 149 319 nbsp Yamaha Jubilo 13 5 2 6 311 327 14 3010 nbsp NEC Green Rockets 13 4 0 9 224 280 56 2511 nbsp Kintetsu Liners 13 4 1 8 218 348 130 2312 nbsp Ricoh Black Rams 13 4 0 9 262 422 160 1913 nbsp Honda Heat 13 1 0 12 255 464 209 1014 nbsp Kyuden Voltex 13 0 0 13 199 502 303 4 The top 4 teams qualified to the title play offs The top 4 teams also qualified for entry into the All Japan Rugby Football Championship Teams 5 to 10 qualified to the wildcard play offs for entry into the All Japan Rugby Football Championship Teams 11 and 12 went through to the promotion and relegation play offs against regional challengers Teams 13 and 14 were automatically relegated to the regional leagues for 2010 11 1 Four points for a win two for a draw one bonus point for four tries or more BP1 and one bonus point for losing by seven or less BP2 If teams are level at any stage tiebreakers are applied in the following order Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Number of matches won Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match then the second and so on until the tie is settledFixtures and results edit This section needs expansion with Results Rd 3 13 source top league jp You can help by adding to it November 2013 Round 1 edit 4 September 2009 Sanyo Wild Knights 24 11 Toshiba Brave Lupus Prince Chichibu Tokyo 19 305 September 2009 Ricoh Black Rams 23 15 Honda Heat Prince Chichibu Tokyo 17 005 September 2009 Coca Cola West Red Sparks 19 12 Kintetsu Liners Level 5 Stadium Fukuoka 17 005 September 2009 Toyota Verblitz 18 18 Yamaha Jubilo Mizuho Stadium Aichi 18 005 September 2009 Kobelco Steelers 24 24 Suntory Sungoliath Nagai 2nd Osaka 18 005 September 2009 NEC Green Rockets 11 29 Kubota Spears Prince Chichibu Tokyo 19 005 September 2009 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 25 15 Kyuden Voltex Level 5 Stadium Fukuoka 19 00Round 2 edit 12 September 2009 NEC Green Rockets 6 29 Toshiba Brave Lupus Fukuda Denshi Arena Chiba 17 0012 September 2009 Kintetsu Liners 31 3 Kyuden Voltex Nagai 2nd Osaka 17 0012 September 2009 Kubota Spears 18 11 Honda Heat Prince Chichibu Tokyo 18 0012 September 2009 Honda Heat 19 45 Toyota Verblitz Suzuka Sports Mie 18 0012 September 2009 Coca Cola West Red Sparks 13 46 Suntory Sungoliath Kakidomari Nagasaki 18 0012 September 2009 Kobelco Steelers 12 9 Fukuoka Sanix Blues Nagai 2nd Osaka 19 0013 September 2009 Ricoh Black Rams 22 44 Sanyo Wild Knights Yamagata 15 00Title play offs editTop 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 edit 24 January 2010 Toshiba Brave Lupus 35 24 Suntory Sungoliath 14 0024 January 2010 Sanyo Wild Knights 25 21 Toyota Verblitz 14 00Final edit 31 January 2010 Toshiba Brave Lupus 6 0 Sanyo Wild Knights 14 00Wildcard play offs editThe two second round winners qualified for the All Japan Rugby Football Championship This section needs expansion with Results source rugbyarchive net You can help by adding to it November 2013 First round edit 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 edit 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 editMain 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 editTwo 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 13 February 2010 Kintetsu Liners 28 8 Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars 14 0013 February 2010 Ricoh Black Rams 59 12 Mazda Blue Zoomers 14 00So Kintetsu and Ricoh remained in the Top League for the following season Top Ten Points Scorers editPlayer Team Pts T C PG DG1 Atsushi Tanabe nbsp Sanyo Wild Knights 191 4 48 25 02 Ryan Nicholas nbsp Suntory Sungoliath 173 6 46 17 03 Shaun Webb nbsp Coca Cola West Red Sparks 150 2 28 16 74 Shane Drahm nbsp Kubota Spears 135 2 28 16 75 David Hill nbsp Toshiba Brave Lupus 122 4 39 8 06 Ayumu Goromaru nbsp Yamaha Jubilo 111 0 27 19 07 Yoshimitsu Kawano nbsp Ricoh Black Rams 102 1 23 15 28 Orene Ai i nbsp Toyota Verblitz 80 4 21 5 19 Hirotoki Onozawa nbsp Suntory Sungoliath 70 14 0 0 010 Tomoki Kitagawa nbsp Sanyo Wild Knights 80 4 21 5 1Table notes Pts Points scored T Tries C Conversions PG Penalty Goals DG Drop GoalsEnd of season awards editThis section needs expansion with Results You can help by adding to it November 2013 References edit 2009 10 Top League The Rugby Archive External links edit2009 10 draw Team Profiles Japanese Top League official site Japanese Top League video digest Final Table Japanese Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2009 10 Top League amp oldid 1092656936, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
