2009 Top League Challenge Series

Last updated
2009 Top League Challenge Series
Countries Japan
Date 11 – 25 January 2009
Champions Ricoh Black Rams (1st title)
Runners-up Honda Heat
Promoted Honda Heat
Ricoh Black Rams
Matches played 6
←  2008
2010  →

The 2009 Top League Challenge Series was the 2009 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 2009–10 season. The competition was contested from 11 to 25 January 2009.

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.

2009–10 Top League

The 2009–10 Top League was the seventh season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated Sanyo Wild Knights by 6–0 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their fifth Top League championship.

Contents

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

Honda Heat

Honda Heat is a Japanese rugby union team based in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The owner of the club is Honda Motor.

Ricoh Black Rams is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. Placed 10th in the 2004-2005 season which meant it had to win a play-off against one of the top regional teams to stay in the league, as it did.

Mazda Blue Zoomers is a Japanese rugby union team who compete in Japan's Top League Challenge series for promotion to the Top League. They are owned by car manufacturers Mazda based in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan.

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 2009–10 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 2008 regional leagues.

Top West League

The final standings for the 2008 Top West League were: [1]

2008 Top West League First Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Honda Heat 5 5 0 0 220 58 +162 4 0 24
2 Toyota Industries Shuttles 5 4 0 1 238 89 +149 3 0 19
3 World Fighting Bull 5 3 0 2 192 107 +85 3 1 16
4 NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes 5 2 0 3 95 154 −59 2 0 10
5 Chubu Electric Power 5 1 0 4 54 224 −170 1 0 5
6 Osaka Police 5 0 0 5 67 234 −167 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.
2008 Top West League Second Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Honda Heat 2 2 0 0 85 42 +43 1 0 9
2 Toyota Industries Shuttles 2 1 0 1 57 62 −5 2 1 7
3 World Fighting Bull 2 0 0 2 39 77 −38 1 1 2
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 2008 Top East League were: [2]

2008 Top East League standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Ricoh Black Rams (R) 10 10 0 0 546 139 +407 10 0 50
2 NTT Communications Shining Arcs 10 8 0 2 375 170 +205 7 1 40
3 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars (R) 10 7 0 3 404 229 +175 8 0 36
4 Tokyo Gas 10 7 0 3 378 205 +173 6 0 34
5 Secom Rugguts 10 6 0 4 427 177 +250 6 2 32
6 Kamaishi Seawaves 10 7 0 3 240 221 +19 3 0 31
7 Suntory Foods 10 4 0 6 168 415 −247 3 1 20
8 Kurita Water 10 3 0 7 188 265 −77 2 1 15
9 JAL Wings 10 2 0 8 230 386 −156 3 0 11
10 Hino Red Dolphins (P) 10 1 0 9 129 525 −396 1 1 6
11 Akita Northern Bullets 10 0 0 10 118 471 −353 1 1 2
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.
(R) indicates a team newly relegated from the Top League. (P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.

The following match was played:

Top Kyūshū League

The final standings for the 2008 Top Kyūshū League were: [3]

2008 Top Kyūshū League First Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Mazda Blue Zoomers 5 5 0 0 322 54 +268 5 0 25
2 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 5 3 0 2 191 69 +122 3 1 16
3 Chugoku Electric Power 5 3 0 2 122 138 −16 2 0 14
4 JR Kyūshū Thunders 5 2 0 3 48 188 −140 0 0 8
5 Toshiba Oita 5 1 0 4 61 163 −102 1 2 7
6 Yaskawa (P) 5 1 0 4 44 176 −132 0 1 5
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.
(P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.
2008 Top Kyūshū League Second Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Mazda Blue Zoomers 2 2 0 0 70 14 +56 2 0 10
2 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 2 1 0 1 34 53 −19 1 0 5
3 Chugoku Electric Power 2 0 0 2 36 73 −37 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 2009 Top League Challenge 1 were: [4]

2009 Top League Challenge 1 standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Ricoh Black Rams 2 2 0 0 135 20 +115 2 0 10
2 Honda Heat 2 1 0 1 80 79 +1 1 0 5
3 Mazda Blue Zoomers 2 0 0 2 25 141 −116 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.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2009 Top League Challenge 1: [4]

Challenge 2

Standings

The final standings for the 2009 Top League Challenge 2 were: [4]

2009 Top League Challenge 2 standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Toyota Industries Shuttles 2 2 0 0 161 57 +104 2 0 10
2 NTT Communications Shining Arcs 2 1 0 1 157 41 +116 2 0 6
3 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 2 0 0 2 24 244 −220 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.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2009 Top League Challenge 2: [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

2007–08 Top League

The 2007–08 Top League was the fifth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Sanyo Wild Knights became the first ever team in the Top League to win all their league games, but were defeated for the Top League title by Suntory Sungoliath 14-10 in the Microsoft Cup final on February 24, 2008 at Chichibunomiya.

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.

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 thei first Top League title.

2014–15 Top League

The 2014–15 Top League was the 12th season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. It kicked off on 30 August 2014. The final was held on 8 February 2015 and won by Panasonic Wild Knights, 30–12 over Yamaha Júbilo.

2016–17 Top League

The 2016–17 Top League is the 14th season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. It kicked off on 26 August 2016 and the final round of league matches were played on 14 January 2017.

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.

The 2005 Top League Challenge Series was the 2005 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 2005–06 season. The competition was contested from 16 to 29 January 2005.

The 2006 Top League Challenge Series was the 2006 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 2006–07 season. The competition was contested from 15 to 28 January 2006.

The 2007 Top League Challenge Series was the 2007 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 2007–08 season. The competition was contested from 14 to 27 January 2007.

The 2008 Top League Challenge Series was the 2008 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 2008–09 season. The competition was contested from 27 January to 10 February 2008.

The 2010 Top League Challenge Series was the 2010 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 2010–11 season. The competition was contested from 11 to 25 January 2010.

The 2010–11 Top League Challenge Series was the 2010–11 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 2011–12 season. The competition was contested from 19 December 2010 to 29 January 2011.

The 2011–12 Top League Challenge Series was the 2011–12 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 2012–13 season. The competition was contested from 25 December 2011 to 11 February 2012.

The 2012–13 Top League Challenge Series was the 2012–13 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 2013–14 season. The competition was contested from 9 December 2012 to 20 January 2013.

The 2013–14 Top League Challenge Series was the 2013–14 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 2014–15 season. The competition was contested from 7 December 2013 to 26 January 2014.

The 2014–15 Top League Challenge Series was the 2014–15 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 2015–16 season. The competition was contested from 7 December 2014 to 25 January 2015.

The 2015–16 Top League Challenge Series was the 2015–16 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 2016–17 season. The competition was contested from 13 December 2015 to 24 January 2016.

The 2016–17 Top League Challenge Series was the 2016–17 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 2017–18 season. The competition was contested from 13 December 2016 to 24 January 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "West Regional Top League 2008/09". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "East Regional Top League 2008/09". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Kyushu Regional Top League 2008/09". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Top League Challenge 2008/09". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.