Top League Champions Cup

Top League Champions
Sport	Rugby union football
Inaugural season	2004
Country	Japan
Holders	Suntory Sungoliath (5th title) ; (2018)
Most titles	Toshiba Brave Lupus & ; Suntory Sungoliath (5 titles each)
Website	www.top-league.jp

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).

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

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

Team	Championships	Runners-up	Semi-final losses	Premierships
Toshiba Brave Lupus	5	3	4	5
Suntory Sungoliath	5	3	2⁺	3
Panasonic Wild Knights¹	4	5	3^{^}	5
Kobelco Steelers	1*	0	5^{^}	3
Yamaha Júbilo	0	3	2⁺	0
Kubota Spears	0	1	1	0
Toyota Verblitz	0	0	6	0
NEC Green Rockets	0*	0	2	0

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

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

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
Year	Cup period	Pos	Team	Pts	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TB	LB	Semi	Final	Ref
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

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
Year	Cup period	Pos	Team	Pts	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TB	LB	SP	Qtr	Semi	Final	Ref
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	—

Competition rules
Points breakdown: * 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less * 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match * 4, 3, 2, or 1 starting points in the group stage for 1st through 4th respectively in the pool stage (seasons 2014–15 and 2015–16 only) Classification: Teams standings are calculated as follows: * Log points * 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

Play-offs and Top League title: 2010 to 2013

Microsoft Cup banner 2005–2009.

Microsoft Cup and Top League title: 2007 to 2009

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
Year	Cup period	Pos	Team	Pts	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TB	LB	Semi	Final	Ref
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	—

Competition rules
Points breakdown: * 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less * 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match Classification: Teams standings are calculated as follows: * Log points * 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

Top League, separate Microsoft Cup: 2004 to 2006

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
Year	Cup period	Pos	Team	Pts	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TB	LB	Qtr	Semi	Final	Ref
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	20–6^α	^[11]
		2	Yamaha Jubilo	45	9	0	2	380	218	162	8	1	38–33	33–33^β	6–20^α
		3	NEC Green Rockets	44	9	0	2	407	253	154	7	1	16–51^γ	—	—
		4	Toyota Verblitz	43	8	0	3	427	224	203	9	2	42–21	33–33^β	—
		5	Kobelco Steelers	34	6	0	5	326	356	-30	8	2	51–16^γ	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 Steelers^δ†	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 Rockets^δ	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	—	—

Competition rules
Points breakdown: * 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less * 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match Classification: Teams standings are calculated as follows: * Log points * 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

Notes:

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

^β 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.

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

^δ 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.

References

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

External links

JRFU Official Site (in English)
Top League Official Site (in Japanese)
"Microsoft Cup" (in Japanese). MSN. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 March 2007.

[jt-2014-1] "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]}

[jt-2005b-13] "Steelers upset Green Rockets in Microsoft Cup quarter final". The Japan Times. 24 January 2004. Archived from the original on 1 March 2005.

[jt-2005a-14] "Brave Lupus add name to rugby Cup". The Japan Times. 7 February 2005. Archived from the original on 1 March 2005.

[jrfu-2005-15] "Official report of the 2005 final". JRFU. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005.

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