Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
Japan Rugby League One is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional 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 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, and Microsoft Cup.
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners rugby team are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Higashiosaka, Japan, which was also opened in 1929.
Tokyo Sungoliath is owned by the Suntory beverage company and is one of the Japanese rugby union teams in the Top League. The team is based in Fuchū, Tokyo, as is their local rival Toshiba Brave Lupus. The team rebranded as Tokyo Sungoliath ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022.
Saitama Wild Knights is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half, it dominated the league in the fifth season and was the first team to be unbeaten throughout a Top League season. The team rebranded as Saitama Wild Knights ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022, with the team relocating to Saitama.
Mie Honda Heat is a Japanese rugby union team based in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The owner of the club is Honda Motor.
John Philip "Bakkies" Botha, is a South African former professional rugby union player who played as a lock for the Springboks until 2014. He was a member of the national team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France in addition to winning two Tri Nations titles in the 2004 Tri Nations Series and the 2009 Tri Nations Series. Botha plays for RC Toulonnais in the Top 14 after signing from Blue Bulls provincial team in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls Super Rugby team. Botha was also a member of the Toulon squad which won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup Finals. Botha became widely associated with fellow international lock Victor Matfield for their highly successful onfield partnership with the Springboks.
Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo is a former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. A dual code international, he has played for the New Zealand Kiwis in rugby league and England in rugby union.
Petrus Fourie du Preez is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a scrum half for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls in Super Rugby between 2002 and 2011, and for Japanese Top League side Suntory Sungoliath between 2011 and 2016. He represented South Africa between 2004 and 2015, winning 76 caps, playing in three Rugby World Cup tournaments, and winning the 2007 competition.
Keegan Rhys Daniel is a South African rugby union player who last played for the Sharks in Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup and the Sharks XV in the Rugby Challenge.
Juanne Hugo Smith is a South African former professional rugby union player who represented South Africa in international test rugby, the Cheetahs in the Super Rugby competition, and the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup. He mainly played as a blindside flanker, although he has also played number eight.
Ifereimi Rawaqa is a Fijian rugby union player. He plays as a lock or flanker.
Tanerau Dylan Latimer is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who plays for the Bay of Plenty.
Mamuka Gorgodze is a Georgian former rugby union player, who played in the top French professional rugby competition, the Top 14. He played for Toulon, having signed with the club in 2014 after having played for Montpellier since 2005. His usual position is flanker or number eight, but he played his early career as a lock. Gorgodze played for the Georgia national rugby union team in 71 matches, including 13 as a captain. He appeared for the Georgia national team in three World Cups in 2007, 2011, and 2015. In May 2017, he announced his retirement from the national team. In 2019 he returned to the national team for the World Cup in Japan.
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.
Francois Uys is a South African rugby union footballer who normally plays as a lock or flanker. He plays in the French Pro D2 competition with Grenoble.
Apisai Namata Naikatini is a Fijian rugby union footballer. He plays lock and blindside flank for Fiji and Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States.
The Top Challenge League was a professional rugby union competition in Japan. It was the second-highest level of rugby competition in the country and is a companies league; all the teams are owned by major companies and the players are generally employees of their company. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the Top League Challenge Series in 2003 in order to give teams playing in the second-tier regional leagues a pathway to progress to the top tier Top League; this became the Top Challenge League in 2017 when a second-tier league was introduced. The competition was disbanded following the creation of the fully-professional Japan Rugby League One ahead of 2022, with the Top League and Top Challenge League being absorbed together to form one three division tournament.
Tomoya Haneda is a former Japanese rugby union player. He played as a lock.
