The 2005–06 Top League was the third season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League.
Toshiba Brave Lupus won both the league round-robin and the Microsoft Cup knockout competitions.
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Teams
Team |
Region |
Fukuoka Sanix Blues |
Fukuoka, Kyushu |
Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers |
Hyogo, Kansai |
Kubota Spears |
Chiba, Kanto |
NEC Green Rockets |
Chiba, Kanto |
Ricoh Black Rams |
Tokyo, Kanto |
Sanyo Wild Knights |
Gunma, Kanto |
Secom Rugguts |
Sayama, Saitama |
Suntory Sungoliath |
Tokyo, Kanto |
Toshiba Brave Lupus |
Tokyo, Kanto |
Toyota Verblitz |
Aichi, Tokai |
World Fighting Bull |
Kobe, Kansai |
Yamaha Jubilo |
Shizuoka, Tokai |
Top League season
Final standings
Fixtures and results
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Microsoft Cup play-offs
The top eight teams in the league played off for the Microsoft Cup (2006) knock out tournament, which was won by Toshiba Brave Lupus.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Challenge series
For the following season in 2006–07, the Top League was expanded to 14 teams with two teams to be automatically promoted from the regional leagues.
Challenge 1
The top-placed regional teams from East Japan, West Japan and Kyushu played each other in Challenge 1. The top two were automatically promoted. The third-placed team played the 12th placed Top League team, with the winner of that game taking a Top League place.[2]
Final order: 1st-Coca Cola West Red Sparks, 2nd-IBM, 3rd-Kintetsu.
So Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and IBM Big Blue were promoted to the Top League for 2006–07.
Challenge 2
The second-placed regional teams played each other in Challenge 2 for the right to play the 9th through 11th placed Top League teams, with the winner of each promotion/relegation match taking a Top League place.
Final order: 1st-Honda, 2nd-Kyuden, 3rd-NTT.
Promotion and relegation play-offs
Four promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played with the winner of each qualifying for the 2006–07 Top League. The 9th, 10th, and 11th placed team from the Top League played against the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st placed teams, respectively, from Challenge 2. The 12th placed team from the Top League played against the 3rd placed team from Challenge 1.
So Fukuoka, Ricoh, Secom, and World all remained in the Top League for 2006–07.
References
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