Top League Champions Cup

The Top League Championship is Japan's highest-level knockout tournament for rugby union clubs. Held annually, the leading teams from the Top League regular season qualify for the playoffs to decide the Cup title. From 2018 onward, the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship has doubled as the Top League Championship Cup. Previously, teams competed for the Lixil Cup, from 2014 to 2016,[1] and Microsoft Cup (prior to 2009).

Top League Champions
SportRugby union football
Inaugural season2004
CountryJapan
HoldersSuntory Sungoliath (5th title)
(2018)
Most titlesToshiba Brave Lupus &
Suntory Sungoliath (5 titles each)
Websitewww.top-league.jp
Yoshiaki Fujimori presents the 2016 Lixil Cup trophy to Panasonic captain Shota Horie.

The Top League competition is a Japanese industrial league that presently consists of sixteen teams, all owned by major companies.

Initially sponsored by Microsoft Japan, the knockout tournament was first contested by the top eight teams from the Top League in 2004. It was considered a separate competition to the Top League for the first three seasons but was officially integrated for the 2006–07 season. The number of teams was also cut to four to give a format of two semi-finals and a final, and from that time onward until the 2016–17 season the winner of the knockout cup was recognised as the Top League champion.

There were no title-play-offs in 2016–17, and the team on top of the league after the round-robin stage won the Top League title.

Overall

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Summary totals for all Top League championships up to and including 2018:

Team Championships Runners-up Semi-final losses Premierships
  Toshiba Brave Lupus5345
  Suntory Sungoliath53 2+3
  Panasonic Wild Knights145 3^5
  Kobelco Steelers  1*0 5^3
  Yamaha Júbilo03 2+0
  Kubota Spears0110
  Toyota Verblitz0060
  NEC Green Rockets  0*020

Notes:

 1 The Panasonic Wild Knights summary includes results for the Sanyo Wild Knights from 2003 to 2012.
 * NEC won the 2004 Microsoft Cup but Kobe Steel was the Top League champion. These were separate competitions prior to 2007.
 ^ The 2004 Kobe Steel and Sanyo (Panasonic) semi-final appearances are included, although that cup was not part of the championship.
 + Yamaha was 3rd and Suntory 4th in the 2003–04 Top League championship, but these results are not counted as semi-final appearances.

Tournaments

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Teams listed are those that qualified from the Top League for the title play-offs in each season, or the top four teams where there were no play-offs. Results of the play-offs are written so that the score of the team in each row is mentioned first.

Legend
Cup winner
(knockout play-offs).
Pos = Log Position, P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Diff = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, SP = Starting Points for Group Stage, Pts = Log Points, Semi = Semi-final, Refs = References
Top League title winner.

Suntory Sungoliath 12–8 Panasonic Wild Knights

Top League and All-Japan titles: 2017 onward

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There were no title-play-offs in 2018, and the team on top of the league after the round-robin stage was crowned the Top League title winner. However, the top three teams progressed to the All-Japan Championship.

The All-Japan Championship doubled as the Top League Champions Cup title from 2018 onward, with university teams excluded.

Top League and All-Japan title (2017–present)
Year Cup period Pos Team Top League regular season Play-offs Ref
Pts W D L PF PA Diff TB LB Semi Final
2018 6 January
to
13 January
1 White Panasonic Wild Knights 63 13 0 0 580 142 +438 11 0 17–11 8–12 [2]
1 Red Suntory Sungoliath 55 12 0 1 450 180 +270 7 0 49–7 12–8
2 White Yamaha Júbilo 46 9 0 4 440 232 +208 8 2 7–49
2 Red Toyota Verblitz 46 10 0 3 394 288 +106 4 2 11–17
2017 21 January
to
29 January
1 Suntory Sungoliath 71 15 0 0 563 184 +379 11 0 52–29 15–10 [3]
2 Yamaha Júbilo 67 14 0 1 580 208 +372 11 0 24–36
3 Panasonic Wild Knights 62 13 0 2 579 268 +311 9 1 36–24 10–15
4 Kobelco Steelers 48 10 0 5 473 328 +145 7 1
 
Logo 2014–2016

Lixil Cup and Top League title: 2014 to 2016

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From the 2013–14 season, the Top League tournament was contested by sixteen teams. The top four teams from the league competition (or the top eight in 2016) advanced to the play-offs to compete for the Lixil Trophy and Top League Championship.

Lixil Trophy and Top League Championship play-offs (2014–2016)
Year Cup period Pos Team Top League regular season Cup play-off results Ref
Pts W D L PF PA Diff TB LB SP Qtr Semi Final
2016 9 January
to
24 January
1A Panasonic Wild Knights 31 6 1 0 290 137 153 5 0 48–6 42–10 27–26 [4]
1B Yamaha Jubilo 29 6 0 1 226 140 86 5 0 27–6 22–34
2A Toshiba Brave Lupus 26 5 1 1 253 100 153 4 0 29–17 34–22 26–27
2B Kobelco Steelers 27 5 0 2 235 137 98 5 2 42–10 10–42
3A Kintetsu Liners 23 5 0 2 189 193 -4 3 0 10–42
3B Toyota Verblitz 26 5 0 2 203 125 78 5 1 17–29
4A NTT Com Shining Arcs 22 4 0 3 190 142 48 4 2 6–27
4B Canon Eagles 25 5 0 2 196 142 54 4 1 6-48
2015 24 January
to
1 February
1 Kobelco Steelers 29 5 0 2 242 113 +129 4 1 4 12–41 [5]
2 Panasonic Wild Knights 29 5 0 2 218 131 +87 5 0 4 50–15 30–12
3 Toshiba Brave Lupus 28 5 0 2 213 147 +66 4 1 3 15–50
4 Yamaha Júbilo 27 5 0 2 165 134 +31 4 1 2 41–12 12–30
2014 1 February
to
9 February
1 Panasonic Wild Knights 36 7 0 0 224 105 119 4 0 4 55–15 45–22 [6]
2 Suntory Sungoliath 32 6 0 1 261 169 92 4 0 4 27–19 22–45
3 Kobelco Steelers 24 4 0 3 223 194 29 5 1 2 19–27
4 Toshiba Brave Lupus 23 4 0 3 181 151 30 2 3 2 15–55

Play-offs and Top League title: 2010 to 2013

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Microsoft Cup banner 2005–2009.

Microsoft Cup and Top League title: 2007 to 2009

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For the 2006–07 season the tournament was expanded to fourteen teams and the Top League and Microsoft Cup competitions were combined. Only the top four teams on the regular season table progressed to title play-offs and the winner of the knockout competition was awarded both the Microsoft Cup and the Top League title.

Video referee (TMO) decisions were introduced for the 2009 Cup series. The naming rights partnership with Microsoft for the knockout competition ended after the 2009 Cup final.

Top League Championship play-off tournament (2007–2013)
Year Cup period Pos Team Top League regular season Play-off results Ref
Pts W D L PF PA Diff TB LB Semi Final
2009 17 February
to
24 February
1 Toshiba Brave Lupus 59 12 0 1 563 211 +352 11 0 26–7 17–6 [7]
2 Sanyo Wild Knights 58 12 0 1 584 197 +387 10 0 32–22 6–17
3 Suntory Sungoliath 51 10 0 3 482 298 +184 10 1 22–32
4 Kobelco Steelers 43 9 0 4 358 300 +58 5 2 6–27
2008 17 February
to
24 February
1 Sanyo Wild Knights 63 13 0 0 593 170 +423 11 0 25–21 10–14 [8]
2 Suntory Sungoliath 53 10 1 2 453 229 +224 10 1 33–10 14–10
3 Toyota Verblitz 50 9 1 3 452 269 +183 9 3 10–33
4 Toshiba Brave Lupus 47 10 1 2 398 263 +135 5 2 21–25
2007 28 January
to
4 February
1 Toshiba Brave Lupus 60 12 0 1 502 234 268 11 1 38–35 14–13 [9]
2 Suntory Sungoliath 56 11 0 2 545 161 384 10 2 40–39 13–14
3 Yamaha Jubilo 48 10 1 2 379 306 73 5 1 39–40
4 Toyota Verblitz 47 9 0 4 448 267 181 8 3 35–38

Top League, separate Microsoft Cup: 2004 to 2006

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For the first three seasons the competition format was a single round-robin tournament contested by twelve teams, with the team finishing top of the table winning the Top League title. The Microsoft Cup was a separate knockout competition for the top eight teams in the league.

Microsoft Cup play-off tournament (2004–2006)
Year Cup period Pos Team Top League regular season Play-off results Ref
Pts W D L PF PA Diff TB LB Qtr Semi Final
2006 22 January
to
5 February
1 Toshiba Brave Lupus 46 9 0 2 406 193 213 10 0 38–7 23–10 33–18 [10]
2 Sanyo Wild Knights 42 9 0 2 416 276 140 6 0 24–40
3 NEC Green Rockets 41 9 0 2 270 136 134 4 1 17–12 10–23
4 Toyota Verblitz 37 7 0 4 431 263 168 6 3 12–17
5 Kobelco Steelers 33 7 0 4 284 225 59 4 1 7–38
6 Suntory Sungoliath 32 6 0 5 308 241 67 6 2 35–17 44–25 18–33
7 Yamaha Jubilo 28 5 0 6 328 211 117 4 4 17–35
8 Kubota Spears 23 4 1 6 324 297 27 5 0 40–24 25–44
2005 8 February
to
28 February
1 Toshiba Brave Lupus 50 10 0 1 463 166 297 9 1 33–13 41–0  20–6α [11]
2 Yamaha Jubilo 45 9 0 2 380 218 162 8 1 38–33  33–33β  6–20α
3 NEC Green Rockets 44 9 0 2 407 253 154 7 1  16–51γ
4 Toyota Verblitz 43 8 0 3 427 224 203 9 2 42–21  33–33β
5 Kobelco Steelers 34 6 0 5 326 356 -30 8 2  51–16γ 0–41
6 Kubota Spears 27 5 0 6 277 334 -57 6 1 33–38
7 Sanyo Wild Knights 24 4 0 7 346 296 50 4 4 21–41
8 Suntory Sungoliath 24 4 0 7 307 282 25 4 4 13–33
2004 8 February
to
22 February
1 Kobelco Steelersδ 47 9 0 2 439 286 153 11 0 35–27 10–34 [12]
2 Toshiba Brave Lupus 44 8 1 2 503 283 220 9 1 39–10 36–34 19–24
3 Yamaha Jubilo 42 8 2 1 334 223 111 6 0 10–39
4 Suntory Sungoliath 42 8 0 3 408 265 143 9 1 5–32
5 World Fighting Bull 32 6 0 5 349 285 64 7 1 27–35
6 NEC Green Rocketsδ 30 5 2 4 411 274 137 6 0 32–5 34–10 24–19
7 Sanyo Wild Knights 24 4 1 6 319 331 -12 6 0 39–32 34–36
8 Kubota Spears 22 4 0 9 262 362 -100 4 2 32–39

Notes:

Toshiba Brave Lupus won the Top League and Microsoft Cup double.[13]

The number of tries and goals being equal, the result was decided in favour of Yamaha over Toyota by a lottery at Hanazono after the game.

Reigning Microsoft Cup holders the NEC Green Rockets were knocked out at the quarter-final stage.[14][15]

In 2003–04, Kobe Steel won the Top League but NEC won the Microsoft Cup. The League and Cup were separate competitions prior to 2007.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Top League to introduce new officiating system this season". The Japan Times. 21 August 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015.
  2. ^ "2017/18 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  3. ^ "2016/17 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  4. ^ "2015/16 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  5. ^ "2014/15 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  6. ^ "2013/14 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  7. ^ "2008/09 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  8. ^ "2007/08 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  9. ^ "2006/07 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  10. ^ "2005/06 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
  11. ^ "2004/05 Top League". The Rugby Archive. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015.
  12. ^ "2003/04 Top League". The Rugby Archive.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Steelers upset Green Rockets in Microsoft Cup quarter final". The Japan Times. 24 January 2004. Archived from the original on 1 March 2005.
  14. ^ "Brave Lupus add name to rugby Cup". The Japan Times. 7 February 2005. Archived from the original on 1 March 2005.
  15. ^ "Official report of the 2005 final". JRFU. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005.
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