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.
Teams TeamRegionCoachCaptainCanon EaglesMachida, Tokyo, Kantō Yoji Nagatomo Taku WadaFukuoka Sanix BluesMunakata, Fukuoka, Kyūshū Yuichiro Fujii Yasutake NagashitaKintetsu LinersHigashiosaka, Osaka, Kansai Ryusuke Maeda Tadanobu KoKobelco SteelersKobe, Kansai Seiji Hirao Daiki HashimotoKyuden VoltexFukuoka, Kyūshū Koji Hirata Makoto MatsumotoNEC Green RocketsAbiko, Chiba, Kantō Greg Cooper Ryota AsanoNTT DoCoMo Red HurricanesOsaka, Kansai Kazunari Takano Takeshi HiraseNTT Com Shining ArcsChiba, Chiba, Kantō Masato Hayashi Hiraku TomoigawaPanasonic Wild KnightsOta, Gunma, Kantō Norifumi Nakajima Seiichi ShimomuraRicoh Black RamsTokyo, Kantō Leon Holden Daisuke KomatsuSuntory SungoliathFuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Naoya Okubo Shinya MakabeToshiba Brave LupusFuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Kenichi Wada Masato ToyodaToyota VerblitzToyota, Aichi, Tokai Keiji Hirose Ryuta UenoYamaha JúbiloIwata, 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 TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints 1 Suntory Sungoliath 13 13 0 0 481 258 +223 11 0 63 2 Toshiba Brave Lupus 13 10 0 3 478 266 +212 8 2 50 3 Panasonic Wild Knights 13 10 0 3 509 275 +234 8 1 49 4 Kobelco Steelers 13 9 1 3 468 255 +213 9 2 49 5 Toyota Verblitz 13 9 1 3 343 291 +52 4 1 43 6 Yamaha Júbilo 13 8 0 5 430 311 +119 7 3 42 7 Kintetsu Liners 13 6 0 7 356 308 +48 6 3 33 8 NEC Green Rockets 13 6 0 7 399 375 +24 7 1 32 9 NTT Com Shining Arcs 13 7 0 6 240 313 –73 1 2 31 10 Ricoh Black Rams 13 5 0 8 322 360 –38 5 3 28 11 Canon Eagles 13 3 0 10 287 382 –95 5 2 19 12 Kyuden Voltex 13 2 0 11 238 593 –355 5 3 16 13 NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes 13 1 0 12 217 524 –307 2 2 8 14 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13 1 0 12 256 513 –257 2 1 7 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 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
Fixtures and results 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
Final
FB 15 Go Aruga RW 14 Daichi Murata OC 13 Koji TairaIC 12 Ryan NicholasLW 11 Hirotoki OnozawaFH 10 Kosei Ono SH 9 Fourie du Preez N8 8 Masakatsu Nishikawa OF 7 Takamichi Sasaki BF 6 George SmithRL 5 Shinya Makabe (c)LL 4 Koji ShinozukaTP 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama HK 2 Yusuke Aoki LP 1 Akira Ozaki Replacements:PR 16 Tateo Kanai PR 17 Yosuke Ikegaya LK 18FL 19 Shinji Gen SH 20 Atsushi Hiwasa FH 21 Tusi Pisi FB 22 Hiroki Miyamoto Coach: Naoya Okubo FB 15 Gochi Tachikawa RW 14 Toshiaki HiroseOC 13 Hiroki YoshidaIC 12 Tomohiro SenbaLW 11 Shin ItoFH 10 David Hill SH 9 Jun Fujii N8 8 Masato Toyoda (c)OF 7 Tomoaki NakaiBF 6 Steven Bates RL 5 Hitoshi OnoLL 4 Yota Mochizuki TP 3 Takuma AsaharaHK 2 Hiroki Yuhara LP 1 Tomohiro Kubo Replacements:HK 16 Taku Inokuchi PR 17 Masataka Mikami LK 18 Kyosuke Kajikawa FL 19 Michael Leitch SH 20 Tomoki Yoshida CE 21 Neil Brew WG 22 Takehisa Usuzuki 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
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.
Team awards AwardWinner Top League winners: Suntory Sungoliath Fair Play award: Fukuoka Sanix Blues Best fans: Kobelco Steelers
Individual awards AwardWinner 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
External links