2004 Top League Challenge Series

Last updated
2004 Top League Challenge Series
Countries Japan
Date 10 – 24 January 2004
Champions Toyota Verblitz (1st title)
Runners-up IBM Big Blue
Promoted IBM Big Blue
Toyota Verblitz
Matches played 6
2005  →

The 2004 Top League Challenge Series was the 2004 edition of the Top League Challenge Series, a second-tier rugby union competition in Japan, in which teams from regionalised leagues competed for promotion to the Top League for the 2004–05 season. The competition was contested from 10 to 24 January 2004.

Japan Constitutional monarchy in East Asia

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

Top League

The Top League is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the Japan Company Rugby Football Championship, to drive up the overall standard and popularity of the sport and improve the results of the Japan national rugby union team. The chief architect of the league was Hiroaki Shukuzawa who strongly felt the urgency of improving Japanese domestic company rugby to a professional level which would allow Japan to compete more convincingly at Rugby World Cups.

The 2004–05 Top League was the second 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.

Contents

IBM Big Blue and Toyota Verblitz won promotion to the 2004–05 Top League, while Kyuden Voltex and Toyota Industries Shuttles progressed to the promotion play-offs.

IBM Big Blue (rugby union)

IBM Big Blue is a Japanese semi-professional rugby union team in the Top League, founded in 1976 by IBM. The company decided to make rugby, along with baseball and American football, one of the official company sports in 1989, which allowed the rugby club to gain support and momentum.

Toyota Verblitz Japanese rugby union club, owned by Toyota Motor

Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. Verblitz is a conflation of verde and blitz. The team is owned by Toyota Jidosha and is separate from, and not to be confused with, the Toyota Industries Shuttles rugby team, owned by Toyota Industries. They share Toyota Stadium in the city of Toyota, Aichi with the football club Nagoya Grampus which also used to be owned by Toyota Motors.

Kyuden Voltex

Kyuden Voltex is a Japanese rugby team owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co.. The nickname "Voltex" is a conflation of "Voltage" and "Techniques" and was decided after the team won promotion to the Top League. The team is based in Kashii, Fukuoka and from the 2007-8 season is playing in the semi-professional Top League at the top of Japanese domestic rugby. It is the third team based in Kyūshū to play in the league, the other two being Coca-Cola Red Sparks and Munakata Sanix Blues.

Competition rules and information

The top two teams from the regional Top East League, Top West League and Top Kyūshū League qualified to the Top League Challenge Series. The regional league winners participated in Challenge 1, while the runners-up participated in Challenge 2.

The top two teams in Challenge 1 won automatic promotion to the 2004–05 Top League, while the third-placed team in Challenge 1 and the Challenge 2 winner qualified to the promotion play-offs.

Qualification

The teams qualified to the Challenge 1 and Challenge 2 series through the 2003 regional leagues.

Top West League

The final standings for the 2003 Top West League were: [1]

2003 Top West League standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Toyota Verblitz 7 7 0 0 717 31 +686 7 0 35
2 Toyota Industries Shuttles 7 6 0 1 484 157 +327 6 0 30
3 Osaka Police 7 4 0 3 168 340 −172 3 0 19
4 NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes 7 3 0 4 223 464 −41 3 1 16
5 Chubu Electric Power 7 3 0 4 197 278 −81 3 1 16
6 Honda Heat 7 3 0 4 176 301 −125 2 0 14
7 JR West Railers 7 2 0 5 144 285 −141 3 0 11
8 Mitsubishi Red Evolutions 7 0 0 7 99 552 −453 0 0 0
Legend:
P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points.

Top East League

The final standings for the 2003 Top East League were: [2]

2003 Top East League (East) standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 IBM Big Blue 9 9 0 0 634 101 +533 9 0 45
2 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 9 7 0 2 247 218 +29 5 1 34
3 Kamaishi Seawaves 9 6 0 3 255 220 +35 4 1 29
4 NTT Communications Shining Arcs 9 6 0 3 220 231 −11 4 0 28
5 Insurance Meiji Life Yasuda 9 4 1 4 233 240 −7 4 2 24
6 Kurita Water 9 4 0 5 255 252 +3 4 3 23
7 Tokyo Gas 9 4 1 4 264 245 +19 4 1 23
8 JAL Wings 9 3 0 5 205 221 −16 5 0 17
9 Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars 9 1 0 8 155 372 −217 2 1 7
10 Shimizu Blue Sharks 9 0 0 9 105 383 −278 1 2 3
2003 Top East League (North) standings
1 NTT Burns 6 5 0 1 216 67 +149 4 1 25
2 Akita Northern Bullets 6 5 0 1 245 97 +148 3 0 23
3 Funaoka SDF Wild Boars 6 2 0 4 230 158 +72 4 2 11
4 North Force 6 0 0 6 36 403 −367 0 0 0
Legend:
P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points.

The following matches were played:

Top Kyūshū League

The final standings for the 2003 Top Kyūshū League were: [3]

2003 Top Kyūshū League First Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 6 6 0 0 456 44 +412 6 0 30
2 Kyuden Voltex 6 5 0 1 337 74 +263 5 0 25
3 Chugoku Electric Power 6 4 0 2 333 236 +97 4 0 20
4 Mitsubishi Mizushima 6 2 0 4 91 296 −205 2 0 10
5 Mazda Blue Zoomers 6 2 0 4 124 67 +57 2 0 10
6 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 6 1 0 5 109 373 −264 2 0 6
7 JR Kyūshū Thunders 6 1 0 5 68 428 −360 0 0 4
Legend:
P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points.
2003 Top Kyūshū League Second Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Kyuden Voltex 2 2 0 0 99 13 +86 1 0 9
2 Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 2 1 0 1 80 36 +44 1 1 6
3 Chugoku Electric Power 2 0 0 2 17 147 −130 0 0 0
Legend:
P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points.

Challenge 1

Standings

The final standings for the 2004 Top League Challenge 1 were: [4]

2004 Top League Challenge 1 standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Toyota Verblitz 2 2 0 0 128 27 +101 2 0 10
2 IBM Big Blue 2 1 0 1 64 58 +6 1 0 5
3 Kyuden Voltex 2 0 0 2 32 139 −107 1 0 1
Legend:
P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2004 Top League Challenge 1: [4]

Challenge 2

Standings

The final standings for the 2004 Top League Challenge 2 were: [4]

2004 Top League Challenge 2 standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Toyota Industries Shuttles 2 2 0 0 102 45 +57 2 0 10
2 Kamaishi Seawaves 2 1 0 1 43 87 −44 1 0 5
3 Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 2 0 0 2 57 70 −13 2 1 3
Legend:
P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2004 Top League Challenge 2: [4]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "West Regional Top League 2003/04". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "East Regional Top League 2003/04". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Kyushu Regional Top League 2003/04". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Top League Challenge 2003/04". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
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