2013–14 Top League
2013–14 Top League | |
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The 2013–14 Top League champions, Panasonic.
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Countries | ![]() |
Date | 30 August 2013 – 9 February 2014 |
Champions | Panasonic Wild Knights (2nd title) |
Runners-up | Suntory Sungoliath |
Matches played | 115 |
Top point scorer | ![]() Suntory Sungoliath |
Top try scorer | ![]() Kobe Kobelco Steelers |
← 2012–13
2014–15 →
|
The 2013–14 Top League was the 11th season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. It kicked off on 30 August 2013. The final was held on 9 February 2014 and won by Panasonic Wild Knights.[1]
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Teams
The Top League expanded from 14 to 16 teams for the 2013–14 season.[2] The Sanix Blues team was relegated, and Coca-Cola West Red Sparks, Kubota Spears, Toyota Industries were promoted to the Top League for 2013–14.
Regular season
For the Pool stage, the 16 teams were placed into 2 pools of 8 teams each and a round-robin tournament was played within each of the pools.
Then, for the Group stage, the top 4 teams from each pool went through to Group 1, and the bottom 4 teams from each pool went through to Group 2. The teams were given starting points based on where they finished in their pool. - i.e. starting points of 4, 3, 2, and 1, for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively; and starting points of 4, 3, 2, and 1, for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively.
Another round-robin was played for each of the groups. The Top League teams in Group 1 ranked 1st to 4th qualified for the title play-offs to fight for the Microsoft Cup and the Top League title. The top 4 also qualified directly into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
The teams in Group 1 ranked 5th to 8th, and teams in Group 2 ranked 1st to 4th went through to the wildcard play-offs for qualification into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
The teams in Group 2 ranked 5th to 7th went through to the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers to fight to remain in the Top League. The team in Group 2 ranked 8th was automatically relegated to the regional leagues for 2014–15.
Table
Group stage tables
Top League - Group Stage | ||||||||||||||
Group 1 | ||||||||||||||
Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Start Points | Points | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 224 | 105 | 119 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 36 | ||
2 | Suntory Sungoliath | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 261 | 169 | 92 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 32 | ||
3 | Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 223 | 194 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 24 | ||
4 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 181 | 151 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 23 | ||
5 | Yamaha Júbilo | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 168 | 177 | -9 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 19 | ||
6 | Toyota Verblitz | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 127 | 188 | -61 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | ||
7 | Canon Eagles | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 131 | 251 | -120 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||
8 | NEC Green Rockets | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 130 | 210 | -80 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | ||
Updated: 19 Jan 2014 Source:The Rugby Archive[3] |
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Group 2 | ||||||||||||||
Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Start Points | Points | |||
1 | Kubota Spears | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 166 | 103 | 63 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 27 | ||
2 | Kintetsu Liners | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 187 | 158 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 27 | ||
3 | Ricoh Black Rams | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 217 | 150 | 67 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 25 | ||
4 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 190 | 195 | -5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 23 | ||
5 | NTT Shining Arcs | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 158 | 210 | -52 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20 | ||
6 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 157 | 175 | -18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 19 | ||
7 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 152 | 160 | -8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 | ||
8 | Kyuden Voltex | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 157 | 233 | -76 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ||
Updated: 19 Jan 2014 Source:The Rugby Archive[3] |
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Source:The Rugby Archive[3] |
Pool stage tables
Top League - Pool Stage | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pool A | ||||||||||||||
Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | ||||
1 | Suntory Sungoliath | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 245 | 110 | 135 | 5 | 1 | 30 | |||
2 | NEC Green Rockets | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 193 | 138 | 55 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |||
3 | Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 213 | 147 | 66 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |||
4 | Toyota Verblitz | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 142 | 111 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 22 | |||
5 | NTT Shining Arcs | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 155 | 175 | -20 | 3 | 0 | 19 | |||
6 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 172 | 185 | -13 | 3 | 4 | 11 | |||
7 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 116 | 208 | -92 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |||
8 | Kyuden Voltex | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 87 | 259 | -162 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Updated: 26 Nov 2013 Source:The Rugby Archive[3] |
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Pool B | ||||||||||||||
Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | ||||
1 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 231 | 97 | 134 | 5 | 1 | 28 | |||
2 | Yamaha Júbilo | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 209 | 150 | 59 | 3 | 0 | 25 | |||
3 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 164 | 131 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 23 | |||
4 | Canon Eagles | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 187 | 161 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 20 | |||
5 | Kubota Spears | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 169 | 173 | -4 | 3 | 1 | 20 | |||
6 | Kintetsu Liners | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 139 | 167 | -28 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |||
7 | Ricoh Black Rams | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 142 | 196 | -54 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |||
8 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 125 | 291 | -166 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |||
Updated: 26 Nov 2013 Source:The Rugby Archive[3] |
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Source:The Rugby Archive[3] |
Pool stage
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Group stage
Round 1
30/11/2013 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 32 – 17 | Ricoh Black Rams | |||
14:00 |
30/11/2013 | Kyuden Voltex | 38 – 36 | NTT Shining Arcs | |||
14:00 |
30/11/2013 | NEC Green Rockets | 19 – 22 | Canon Eagles | |||
14:00 |
30/11/2013 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 24 – 20 | Yamaha Jubilo | |||
14:00 |
01/12/2013 | Kintetsu Liners | 21 – 20 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | |||
14:00 |
01/12/2013 | Kobelco Steelers | 23 – 37 | Suntory Sungoliath | |||
14:00 |
01/12/2013 | Kubota Spears | 30 – 7 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | |||
14:00 |
01/12/2013 | Toyota Verblitz | 12 – 27 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | |||
14:00 |
Round 2
07/12/2013 | NEC Green Rockets | 24 – 52 | Suntory Sungoliath | |||
14:00 |
07/12/2013 | NTT Shining Arcs | 16 – 47 | Ricoh Black Rams | |||
14:00 |
07/12/2013 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 50 – 29 | Kintetsu Liners | |||
14:00 |
07/12/2013 | Toyota Verblitz | 11 – 32 | Panasonic Wild Knights | |||
14:00 |
07/12/2013 | Yamaha Jubilo | 35 – 16 | Kobelco Steelers | |||
14:00 |
08/12/2013 | Kyuden Voltex | 14 – 25 | Kubota Spears | |||
14:00 |
08/12/2013 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 17 – 18 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | |||
14:00 |
08/12/2013 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 26 – 24 | Canon Eagles | |||
14:00 |
Round 3
14/12/2013 | Suntory Sungoliath | 13 – 42 | Panasonic Wild Knights | |||
14:00 |
14/12/2013 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 22 – 18 | NEC Green Rockets | |||
14:00 |
14/12/2013 | Yamaha Jubilo | 23 – 19 | Canon Eagles | |||
14:00 |
15/12/2013 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 24 – 29 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | |||
14:00 |
15/12/2013 | Kintetsu Liners | 31 – 15 | Kyuden Voltex | |||
14:00 |
15/12/2013 | Kobelco Steelers | 34 – 18 | Toyota Verblitz | |||
14:00 |
15/12/2013 | Kubota Spears | 18 – 20 | NTT Shining Arcs | |||
14:00 |
15/12/2013 | Ricoh Black Rams | 36 – 20 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | |||
14:00 |
Round 4
21/12/2013 | Kubota Spears | 32 – 5 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | |||
14:00 |
21/12/2013 | NTT Shining Arcs | 24 – 14 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | |||
14:00 |
21/12/2013 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 44 – 12 | Kyuden Voltex | |||
14:00 |
21/12/2013 | Yamaha Jubilo | 40 – 26 | NEC Green Rockets | |||
14:00 |
22/12/2013 | Kobelco Steelers | 48 – 19 | Canon Eagles | |||
14:00 |
22/12/2013 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 14 – 12 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | |||
14:00 |
22/12/2013 | Ricoh Black Rams | 19 – 24 | Kintetsu Liners | |||
14:00 |
22/12/2013 | Suntory Sungoliath | 49 – 7 | Toyota Verblitz | |||
14:00 |
Round 5
04/01/2014 | Canon Eagles | 3 – 53 | Panasonic Wild Knights | |||
14:00 |
04/01/2014 | NEC Green Rockets | 17 – 33 | Kobelco Steelers | |||
14:00 |
04/01/2014 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 12 – 28 | Kubota Spears | |||
14:00 |
05/01/2014 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 20 – 27 | Kintetsu Liners | |||
14:00 |
05/01/2014 | Kyuden Voltex | 31 – 29 | Ricoh Black Rams | |||
14:00 |
05/01/2014 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 29 – 30 | Suntory Sungoliath | |||
14:00 |
05/01/2014 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 34 – 21 | NTT Shining Arcs | |||
14:00 |
05/01/2014 | Toyota Verblitz | 41 – 16 | Yamaha Jubilo | |||
14:00 |
Round 6
11/01/2014 | Canon Eagles | 25 – 58 | Suntory Sungoliath | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | Kintetsu Liners | 17 – 20 | Kubota Spears | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | Kyuden Voltex | 21 – 31 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | NTT Shining Arcs | 27 – 21 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 32 – 31 | Kobelco Steelers | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 14 – 41 | Ricoh Black Rams | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | Toyota Verblitz | 14 – 11 | NEC Green Rockets | |||
14:00 |
11/01/2014 | Yamaha Jubilo | 15 – 29 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | |||
14:00 |
Round 7
18/01/2014 | Kintetsu Liners | 38 – 14 | NTT Shining Arcs | |||
14:00 |
18/01/2014 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 38 – 12 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | |||
14:00 |
18/01/2014 | Ricoh Black Rams | 28 – 13 | Kubota Spears | |||
14:00 |
18/01/2014 | Suntory Sungoliath | 22 – 19 | Yamaha Jubilo | |||
14:00 |
19/01/2014 | Canon Eagles | 19 – 24 | Toyota Verblitz | |||
14:00 |
19/01/2014 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 37 – 26 | Kyuden Voltex | |||
14:00 |
19/01/2014 | Kobelco Steelers | 38 – 36 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | |||
14:00 |
19/01/2014 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 27 – 15 | NEC Green Rockets | |||
14:00 |
Title play-offs
Top 4 sides of the regular season competed in the Microsoft Cup (2014) knock out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2013–14 were Panasonic Wild Knights, Suntory Sungoliath, Kobelco Steelers, and Toshiba Brave Lupus.
Semi-finals
01/02/2014 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 55 – 15 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo | ||
14:00 | Report[4] Summary[5] |
02/02/2014 | Suntory Sungoliath | 27 – 19 | Kobelco Steelers | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo | ||
14:00 | Report[6] Summary[7] |
Final
09/02/2014 | Panasonic Wild Knights | 45 – 22 | Suntory Sungoliath | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo | ||
14:00 | Try: Yamada 5', 49' Miyake 77' Con: Barnes (2/3) 50', 78' Pen: Barnes (8/9) 21', 24', 31', 46', 53', 69', 72', 80' |
Report[1] Summary[8] |
Try: Shinya 9', Du Preez 14', Aruga 36' Con: Tsukamoto (1/1) 15' Nicholas (1/2) 38' Pen: Nicholas (1/2) 60' |
Attendance: 10,217[1] |
Wildcard play-offs
The Top League Group 1 teams ranked 5–8 and Group 2 teams ranked 1–4 played off over two rounds, with the second round winners qualifying for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
First round
01/02/2014 | NEC Green Rockets | 47 – 10 | Kubota Spears | |||
01/02/2014 | Yamaha Jubilo | 46 – 0 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | |||
02/02/2014 | Canon Eagles | 25 – 41 | Kintetsu Liners | |||
02/02/2014 | Toyota Verblitz | 32 – 17 | Ricoh Black Rams | |||
Second round
08/02/2014 | NEC Green Rockets | 12 – 13 | Yamaha Jubilo | |||
08/02/2014 | Kintetsu Liners | 3 – 18 | Toyota Verblitz | |||
So Yamaha and Toyota advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
Challenge series
Challenge 2
The second-placed regional teams from East Japan, West Japan, and Kyushu played each other in a round-robin tournament for the right to join Challenge 1.
7/12/2013 | Chubu Electric Power | 39 – 27 | Mazda Blue Zoomers | Nagoya Mizuho Park Rugby Field | ||
12:00 |
15/12/2013 | Mazda Blue Zoomers | 41 – 24 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | Coca-Cola West Hiroshima Stadium | ||
14:00 |
30/11/2013 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | 33 – 10 | Chubu Electric Power | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium | ||
14:00 |
Final order:
Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars advanced to Challenge 1.
Challenge 1
The top-placed regional teams from East Japan, West Japan, and Kyushu were joined by the Challenge 2 winner to play each other in a round-robin tournament to gain promotion to the Top League for the following season. These teams were Honda Heat, Fukuoka Sanix Blues, Mitsubishi Dynaboars, and Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars.
12/1/2014 | Honda Heat | 80 – 8 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | Level-5 Stadium | ||
12:00 |
12/1/2014 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | 34 – 20 | Mitsubishi Dynaboars | Level-5 Stadium | ||
14:05 |
19/1/2014 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | 113 – 7 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | Komazawa University | ||
12:00 |
19/1/2014 | Mitsubishi Dynaboars | 19 – 28 | Honda Heat | Komazawa University | ||
14:00 |
26/1/2014 | Mitsubishi Dynaboars | 63 – 10 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium | ||
12:00 |
26/1/2014 | Honda Heat | 16 – 30 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium | ||
14:00 |
Final order:
Fukuoka was promoted to the Top League for the following season. The other three teams went on to the promotion and relegation play-offs.
Promotion and relegation play-offs
The Top League teams in Group 2 ranked 5th, 6th, and 7th, played-off against the Challenge 1 teams ranked 4th, 3rd, and 2nd, respectively, for the right to be included in the Top League for the following season.
08/02/2014 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 22 - 17 | Mitsubishi Dynaboars | |||
15/02/2014 | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 41 - 29 | Honda Heat | |||
22/02/2014 | NTT Shining Arcs | 29 - 7 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | |||
So Coca-Cola West Red Sparks, NTT Docomo, and NTT remained in the Top League for the next season.
End of season awards
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At the end of season awards, Panasonic Wild Knights flyhalf Berrick Barnes was named Top League MVP, a day after helping his side to the league title. He was handed his trophy by Japan coach Eddie Jones.[9]
Team Awards
Award | Winner |
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Top League winners: | Panasonic Wild Knights |
Fair Play award: | |
Best fans: |
Individual awards
Award | Winner |
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Top League MVP: | ![]() |
Rookie award: | ![]() ![]() |
Most tries: | ![]() |
Top scorer: | ![]() |
Best kicker: | ![]() |
Best referee: | |
Playoffs MVP: |
Team of the season
# | Winner |
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1. | ![]() |
2. | ![]() |
3. | ![]() |
4. | ![]() |
5. | ![]() |
6. | ![]() |
7. | ![]() |
8. | ![]() |
9. | ![]() |
10. | ![]() |
11. | ![]() |
12. | ![]() |
13. | ![]() |
14. | ![]() |
15. | ![]() |
References
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