2012–13 Top League

The 2012–13 Top League was the tenth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. It kicked off on 31 August 2012. The final was held on 27 January 2013 and won by Suntory Sungoliath to claim their third Top League title.

2012–13 Top League
Captain Shinya Makabe of Suntory, winner
of the Top League and All Japan double.
Countries Japan
Date31 August 2012 – 27 January 2013
ChampionsSuntory Sungoliath (3rd title)
Runners-upToshiba Brave Lupus
Top point scorer Ayumu Goromaru (149 pts)
 Yamaha Júbilo
Top try scorer Akihito Yamada (18 tries)
 Panasonic Wild Knights

Teams
Team Region Coach Captain
Canon Eagles Machida, Tokyo, Kantō Yoji Nagatomo Taku Wada
Fukuoka Sanix Blues Munakata, Fukuoka, Kyūshū Yuichiro Fujii Yasutake Nagashita
Kintetsu Liners Higashiosaka, Osaka, Kansai Ryusuke Maeda Tadanobu Ko
Kobelco Steelers Kobe, Kansai Seiji Hirao Daiki Hashimoto
Kyuden Voltex Fukuoka, Kyūshū Koji Hirata Makoto Matsumoto
NEC Green Rockets Abiko, Chiba, Kantō Greg Cooper Ryota Asano
NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka, Kansai Kazunari Takano Takeshi Hirase
NTT Com Shining Arcs Chiba, Chiba, Kantō Masato Hayashi Hiraku Tomoigawa
Panasonic Wild Knights Ota, Gunma, Kantō Norifumi Nakajima Seiichi Shimomura
Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, Kantō Leon Holden Daisuke Komatsu
Suntory Sungoliath Fuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Naoya Okubo Shinya Makabe
Toshiba Brave Lupus Fuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Kenichi Wada Masato Toyoda
Toyota Verblitz Toyota, Aichi, Tokai Keiji Hirose Ryuta Ueno
Yamaha Júbilo Iwata, Shizuoka, Tokai Katsuyuki Kiyomiya Yuta Kasahara

Regular season

The 14 teams played a round-robin tournament for the 2012–13 Top League regular season.

The top 4 qualified for the title play-offs to fight for the Microsoft Cup and the Top League title. The top 4 also qualified directly into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

Teams ranked 5th to 10th went through to the wildcard play-offs for qualification into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. Teams ranked 13th and 14th went to the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers to fight to remain in the Top League.

Table
Top League Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1Suntory Sungoliath131300481258+22311063
2Toshiba Brave Lupus131003478266+2128250
3Panasonic Wild Knights131003509275+2348149
4Kobelco Steelers13913468255+2139249
5Toyota Verblitz13913343291+524143
6Yamaha Júbilo13805430311+1197342
7Kintetsu Liners13607356308+486333
8NEC Green Rockets13607399375+247132
9NTT Com Shining Arcs13706240313–731231
10Ricoh Black Rams13508322360–385328
11Canon Eagles133010287382–955219
12Kyuden Voltex132011238593–3555316
13NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes131012217524–307228
14Fukuoka Sanix Blues131012256513–257217

 • 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 remain in the Top League for 2013–14.
 • Teams 13 and 14 went through to the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers.

Source:The Rugby Archive[1] Updated: 6 Jan 2013

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

    Round 1

    Round 2

    Round 3

    Round 4

    Round 5

    Round 6

    Round 7

    Round 8

    Round 9

    Round 10

    Round 11

    Round 12

    Round 13

    Title play-offs

    Top 4 sides of the regular season competed in the Microsoft Cup (2013) knock out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2012–13 were Suntory Sungoliath, Toshiba Brave Lupus, Panasonic Wild Knights, and Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers.

    Semi-finals
    19 January 2013
    Suntory Sungoliath 38–19 Kobelco Steelers
    Try: Hatakeyama 49'
    Pisi (2) 57', 78'
    Murata 60'
    Con: Nicholas (3) 49', 57', 78'
    Pen: Nicholas (3) 12', 25', 39'
    Drop: Pisi 70'
    		 Try: Yasui 18'
    Maekawa 27'
    Ohashi 32'
    Con: Morita (2) 18', 27'

    20 January 2013
    Panasonic Wild Knights 8–20 Toshiba Brave Lupus
    Try: Sasakura 51'
    Pen: Delany 24'
    		 Try: T Yoshida 69'
    Shin Ito 79'
    Con: Hill 69'
    R Yoshida 79'
    Pen: Hill 14, 55'

    Final
    27 January 2013
    14:00
    Suntory Sungoliath 19–3 Toshiba Brave Lupus
    Try: Murata (2) 8', 34'
    Pisi 75'
    Con: Nicholas (2) 34', 75'
    		 Pen: Hill 18'
    Prince Chichibu, Tokyo
    Attendance: 13,858
    Referee: Taizo Hirabayashi
    FB15 Go Aruga 76'
    RW14 Daichi Murata 42' to 52'
    OC13 Koji Taira
    IC12 Ryan Nicholas
    LW11 Hirotoki Onozawa
    FH10 Kosei Ono 72'
    SH9 Fourie du Preez 61' to 71'  72'
    N88 Masakatsu Nishikawa 76'
    OF7 Takamichi Sasaki 52'
    BF6 George Smith
    RL5 Shinya Makabe (c)
    LL4 Koji Shinozuka
    TP3 Kensuke Hatakeyama 31'
    HK2 Yusuke Aoki 54'
    LP1 Akira Ozaki 76'
    Replacements:
    PR16 Tateo Kanai 76'
    PR17 Yosuke Ikegaya 31'
    LK18
    FL19 Shinji Gen 76'
    SH20 Atsushi Hiwasa 72'
    FH21 Tusi Pisi 72'
    FB22 Hiroki Miyamoto 76'
    Coach: Naoya Okubo
    FB15 Gochi Tachikawa 76'
    RW14 Toshiaki Hirose
    OC13 Hiroki Yoshida
    IC12 Tomohiro Senba
    LW11 Shin Ito
    FH10 David Hill 40'
    SH9 Jun Fujii 47'
    N88 Masato Toyoda (c)
    OF7 Tomoaki Nakai
    BF6 Steven Bates 53'
    RL5 Hitoshi Ono
    LL4 Yota Mochizuki 72'
    TP3 Takuma Asahara
    HK2 Hiroki Yuhara 72'
    LP1 Tomohiro Kubo 58'
    Replacements:
    HK16 Taku Inokuchi 72'
    PR17 Masataka Mikami 58'
    LK18 Kyosuke Kajikawa 72'
    FL19 Michael Leitch 53'
    SH20 Tomoki Yoshida 47'
    CE21 Neil Brew 40'
    WG22 Takehisa Usuzuki 76'
    Coach: Kenichi Wada

    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 Kintetsu and NEC 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 Toyota and Yamaha advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

    Top League Challenge Series
    Main article: 2012–13 Top League Challenge Series

    Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and Kubota Spears won promotion to the 2013–14 Top League via the 2012–13 Top League Challenge Series, while Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars and Toyota Industries Shuttles progressed to the promotion play-offs.

    Promotion and relegation play-offs

    The Top League teams ranked 14th and 13th 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 Toyota Industries was promoted, Sanix was relegated, and NTT remained in the Top League for the next season.

    End-of-season awards

    Awards for the Top League season, including the Best XV, were chosen by a panel of members of the media, coaches and captains. The Best XV for the 2012-13 season was spread across six different clubs.[2]

    Team awards
    Award Winner
    Top League winners:Suntory Sungoliath
    Fair Play award:Fukuoka Sanix Blues
    Best fans:Kobelco Steelers

    Individual awards
    Award Winner
    Top League MVP: George Smith (Suntory Sungoliath)
    Rookie award: Kohei Yoshida (Toyota Verblitz)
    Most tries: Akihito Yamada (Panasonic Wild Knights)
    Top scorer: Ayumu Goromaru (Yamaha Jubilo)
    Best kicker: Ayumu Goromaru (Yamaha Jubilo)
    Best referee: Taizo Hirabayashi
    Playoffs MVP: Tusi Pisi (Suntory Sungoliath)
    Special prize: Hirotoki Onozawa (Suntory Sungoliath)
    First player to score 100 Top League tries

    Team of the season
    # Winner
    1. Yoshimitsu Yasue (Kobelco Steelers)
    2. Yusuke Aoki (Suntory Sungoliath)
    3. Kensuke Hatakeyama (Suntory Sungoliath)
    4. Hitoshi Ono (Toshiba Brave Lupus)
    5. Shinya Makabe (Suntory Sungoliath)
    6. George Smith (Suntory Sungoliath)
    7. Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus)
    8. Takashi Kikutani (Toyota Verblitz)
    9. Atsushi Hiwasa (Suntory Sungoliath)
    10. Kosei Ono (Suntory Sungoliath)
    11. Akihito Yamada (Panasonic Wild Knights)
    12. Male Sa'u (Yamaha Jubilo)
    13. Jaque Fourie (Kobelco Steelers)
    14. Hirotoki Onozawa (Suntory Sungoliath)
    15. Ayumu Goromaru (Yamaha Jubilo)

    References
    1. "2012/13 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
    2. "Rugby in Japan Newsletter Volume 10, No.5". Rugby International. 6 February 2013. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.