2008–09 Top League
# 2008–09 Top League

The 2008–09 Top League was the sixth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated Sanyo Wild Knights by 17–6 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim the 2008–09 Top League championship.

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.

## Preseason

Kintetsu Liners returned to the league, and Yokogawa Denki were promoted for the first time (and renamed Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars in the off season). They replaced Ricoh Black Rams and Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars.

## Teams

| Team | Region |
| - | - |
| Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | Fukuoka, Kyushu |
| Fukuoka Sanix Blues | Fukuoka, Kyushu |
| IBM Big Blue | Chiba, Kanto |
| Kintetsu Liners | Osaka, Kansai |
| Kobelco Steelers | Hyogo, Kansai |
| Kubota Spears | Chiba, Kanto |
| Kyuden Voltex | Fukuoka, Kyushu |
| NEC Green Rockets | Chiba, Kanto |
| Sanyo Wild Knights | Gunma, Kanto |
| Suntory Sungoliath | Tokyo, Kanto |
| Toshiba Brave Lupus | Tokyo, Kanto |
| Toyota Verblitz | Aichi, Tokai |
| Yamaha Jubilo | Shizuoka, Tokai |
| Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | Tokyo, Kanto |

## Regular season

### Final standings

Top League Table :

| | Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 563 | 211 | +352 | 11 | 0 | 59 |
| 2 | Sanyo Wild Knights | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 584 | 197 | +387 | 10 | 0 | 58 |
| 3 | Suntory Sungoliath | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 482 | 298 | +184 | 10 | 1 | 51 |
| 4 | Kobelco Steelers | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 358 | 300 | +58 | 5 | 2 | 43 |
| 5 | NEC Green Rockets | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 298 | 309 | −11 | 4 | 1 | 37 |
| 6 | Kubota Spears | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 309 | 334 | −25 | 4 | 1 | 37 |
| 7 | Yamaha Jubilo | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 344 | 304 | +40 | 6 | 1 | 35 |
| 8 | Toyota Verblitz | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 310 | 286 | +24 | 4 | 3 | 31 |
| 9 | Kintetsu Liners | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 319 | 348 | −29 | 6 | 2 | 28 |
| 10 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 273 | 353 | −80 | 1 | 1 | 26 |
| 11 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | 13 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 266 | 442 | −176 | 5 | 4 | 21 |
| 12 | Kyuden Voltex | 13 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 345 | 451 | −106 | 4 | 2 | 18 |
| 13 | IBM Big Blue | 13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 222 | 496 | −274 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 14 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | 13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 230 | 574 | −344 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| • The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs.  • The top 6 teams also qualified 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. |||||||||||||||
| 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 |||||||||||||||

## Title play-offs

Top 4 sides of the regular season competed in the Microsoft Cup (2009) knock out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2008–09 were Toshiba Brave Lupus, Sanyo Wild Knights, Kobe Steelers and Suntory Sungoliath.

## Top League Challenge Series

Honda Heat and Ricoh Black Rams won promotion to the 2009–10 Top League via the 2009 Top League Challenge Series, while Mazda Blue Zoomers and Toyota Industries Shuttles progressed to the promotion play-offs.

## Promotion and relegation play-offs

Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played with the winners qualifying for the Top League in the next season. The 12th-placed team from the Top League against the 3rd-placed team from Challenge 1. The 11th-placed team from the Top League against the 1st-placed team from Challenge 2.

So Sanix and Kyuden stayed in the Top League for the following season.

## Top 10 points scorers

| | Player | Team | Pts | T | C | PG | DG |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | David Hill | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 226 | 11 | 60 | 17 | 0 |
| 2 | Ryan Nicholas | Suntory Sungoliath | 158 | 5 | 41 | 17 | 0 |
| 3 | Shane Drahm | Kubota Spears | 136 | 1 | 16 | 31 | 2 |
| 4 | Yasumasa Shigemitsu | Kintetsu Liners | 123 | 5 | 22 | 18 | 0 |
| 5 | Thinus Delport | Kobelco Steelers | 122 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 0 |
| 6 | Genki Saito | Kyuden Voltex | 117 | 2 | 28 | 16 | 1 |
| 6 | Tadanobu Ko | IBM Big Blue | 117 | 2 | 22 | 20 | 1 |
| 8 | Masakazu Irie | Sanyo Wild Knights | 114 | 3 | 33 | 11 | 0 |
| 9 | Ayumu Goromaru | Yamaha Jubilo | 98 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 0 |
| 10 | Daisuke Haradome | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 88 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 0 |

Table notes

* Pts = Points scored
* T = Tries
* C = Conversions
* PG = Penalty Goals
* DG = Drop Goals

## End-of-season awards

### Best fifteen

| | Position | Name | Team |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | PR | Hisateru Nirashima | Kobelco Steelers |
| 2 | HO | Yusuke Aoki | Suntory Sungoliath |
| 3 | PR | Kensuke Hatakeyama | Suntory Sungoliath |
| 4 | LO | Hitoshi Ono | Toshiba Brave Lupus |
| 5 | LO | Daniel Heenan | Sanyo Wild Knights |
| 6 | FL | Steven Bates | Toshiba Brave Lupus |
| 7 | FL | Reuben Thorne | Yamaha Jubilo |
| 8 | No.8 | Ryukoliniasi Holani | Sanyo Wild Knights |
| 9 | SH | Fumiaki Tanaka | Sanyo Wild Knights |
| 10 | SO | David Hill | Toshiba Brave Lupus |
| 11 | WTB | Hirotoki Onozawa | Suntory Sungoliath |
| 12 | CTB | Ryan Nicholas | Suntory Sungoliath |
| 13 | CTB | Seiichi Shimonura | Sanyo Wild Knights |
| 14 | WTB | Tomoki Kitagawa | Sanyo Wild Knights |
| 15 | FB | Hiroki Yoshida | Toshiba Brave Lupus |

Table Notes

* PR = Prop
* HO = Hooker
* LO = Lock
* FL = Flanker
* SH = Scrum Half
* SO = Stand Off
* CTB = Centre Three Quarter Back
* WTB = Wing THree Quarter Back
* FB = Full back
