2010–11 Top League
# 2010–11 Top League

The 2010–11 Top League was the eighth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Sanyo Wild Knights defeated Suntory Sungoliath 28-23 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their first Top League title.

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.

## Changes

* Toyota Industries Shuttles and NTT Communications Shining Arcs were promoted to the Top League, replacing Honda Heat and Kyuden Voltex who were relegated.

## Teams

| Team | Region | Season |
| - | - | - |
| Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | Fukuoka, Kyushu | 5 |
| Fukuoka Sanix Blues | Fukuoka, Kyushu | 7 |
| Kintetsu Liners | Osaka, Kansai | 5 |
| Kobelco Steelers | Hyogo, Kansai | 8 |
| Kubota Spears | Chiba, Kanto | 8 |
| NEC Green Rockets | Chiba, Kanto | 8 |
| NTT Shining Arcs | Chiba, Chiba | 1 |
| Ricoh Black Rams | Tokyo, Kanto | 7 |
| Sanyo Wild Knights | Gunma, Kanto | 8 |
| Suntory Sungoliath | Tokyo, Kanto | 8 |
| Toshiba Brave Lupus | Tokyo, Kanto | 8 |
| Toyota Verblitz | Aichi, Tokai | 7 |
| Toyota Industries Shuttles | Aichi, Mizuho | 1 |
| Yamaha Jubilo | Shizuoka, Tokai | 8 |

## Regular season

### Final standings

Top League Table :

| | Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 483 | 210 | +273 | 57 |
| 2 | Sanyo Wild Knights | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 545 | 163 | +382 | 55 |
| 3 | Toyota Verblitz | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 446 | 261 | +185 | 55 |
| 4 | Suntory Sungoliath | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 395 | 279 | +22 | 36 |
| 5 | Kobelco Steelers | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 395 | 279 | +116 | 36 |
| 6 | NEC Green Rockets | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 276 | 332 | −37 | 34 |
| 7 | Ricoh Black Rams | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 364 | 389 | −25 | 32 |
| 8 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 357 | 472 | −115 | 32 |
| 9 | Kintetsu Liners | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 277 | 344 | −67 | 31 |
| 10 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 250 | 438 | −188 | 28 |
| 11 | Yamaha Jubilo | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 327 | 504 | −177 | 27 |
| 12 | NTT Shining Arcs | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 271 | 343 | −72 | 24 |
| 13 | Kubota Spears | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 224 | 443 | −219 | 11 |
| 14 | Toyota Industries Shuttles | 13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 229 | 558 | −329 | 11 |
| • The top 4 teams qualified to the title play-offs.  • The top 4 teams also qualified for entry into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.  • Teams 5 to 10 qualified to the wildcard play-offs 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 to the regional leagues for 2011–12. |||||||||||||||
| 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 (2011) knock out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2008–09 were Toshiba Brave Lupus, Sanyo Wild Knights, Toyota Verblitz and Suntory Sungoliath.

## Wildcard play-offs

The two second round winners qualified for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

### First round

The Top League teams ranked 7th and 10th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 5th in the second round. The Top League teams ranked 8th and 9th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 6th in the second round.

So Sanix and Ricoh progressed to the second round.

### Second round

The Top League team ranked 5th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 7th and 10th, and the Top League team ranked 6th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 8th and 9th. The two winning second round teams advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

So Kobelco and NEC advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

## Top League Challenge Series

Honda Heat and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won promotion to the 2011–12 Top League via the 2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, while Canon Eagles and Kyuden Voltex progressed to the promotion play-offs.

## Promotion and relegation play-offs

Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played. The Top League teams ranked 12th and 11th played-off against the Challenge 1 teams ranked 3rd and 4th respectively, for the right to be included in the Top League for the following season.

So NTT and Yamaha remained in the Top League for the following season.

