2016–17 Top League

2016–17 Top League
Countries Japan Japan
Date 26 August 2016 – 14 January 2017
2017–18 →

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 will be played on 14 January 2017.[1]

Teams

The only change to the make-up of the league was the Challenge One winner Munakata Sanix Blues replacing NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes.[2]

Team Region Coach Captain
Canon Eagles Machida, Tokyo, Kantō Japan Yoji Nagatomo Japan Yusuke Niwai
Coca-Cola Red Sparks Fukuoka, Kyushu Japan Akihiro Usui Japan Kouta Yamashita
Honda Heat Suzuka, Mie Japan Tomoaki Fujimoto Japan Daisuke Konishi
Kintetsu Liners Higashiosaka, Osaka, Kansai Japan Akira Tsuboi Japan Daiki Toyota
Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers Kobe, Kansai Australia Jim McKay Japan Daiki Hashimoto
Kubota Spears Abiko, Chiba, Kantō South Africa Frans Ludeke Japan Harumichi Tatekawa
Munakata Sanix Blues Munakata, Fukuoka, Kyushu Japan Yuichiro Fujii Japan Eito Tamura
NEC Green Rockets Abiko, Chiba, Kantō New Zealand Peter Russell Japan Sunao Takizawa
NTT Shining Arcs Chiba, Chiba, Kantō New Zealand Rob Penney Japan Daisuke Kurihara
Panasonic Wild Knights Ota, Gunma, Kantō New Zealand Robbie Deans Japan Shota Horie
Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, Kantō Australia Damien Hill Japan Takeshi Mabuchi
Suntory Sungoliath Fuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Japan Keisuke Sawaki Japan Yutaka Nagare
Toshiba Brave Lupus Fuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Japan Teppei Tomioka Japan Michael Leitch
Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, Mizuho Japan Masaya Niu Japan Yuga Takada
Toyota Verblitz Toyota, Aichi, Tokai Japan Hiroshi Sugawara Japan Taiyo Ando
Yamaha Júbilo Iwata, Shizuoka, Tokai Japan Takanobu Horikawa Japan Takeshi Hino

Regular Season

The regular season saw all 16 teams competing in a round-robin style tournament where they played each team in the league one time.[3]

Standings

Top League - League Stage
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Yamaha Júbilo 10 10 0 0 423 127 +296 8 0 48
2 Suntory Sungoliath 10 10 0 0 362 109 +253 7 0 47
3 Panasonic Wild Knights 10 8 0 2 359 195 +164 5 1 38
4 Kobelco Steelers 10 8 0 2 359 213 +146 6 0 38
5 Toyota Verblitz 10 7 0 3 262 185 +77 3 2 33
6 NTT Shining Arcs 10 6 0 4 202 206 -4 1 1 26
7 Ricoh Black Rams 10 5 0 5 245 265 -20 1 3 24
8 Toshiba Brave Lupus 10 4 0 6 222 245 -23 2 4 22
9 Munakata Sanix Blues 10 5 0 5 215 319 -104 0 1 21
10 NEC Green Rockets 10 4 1 5 219 259 -40 1 1 20
11 Canon Eagles 10 3 0 7 236 249 -13 1 3 16
12 Kubota Spears 10 3 1 6 159 282 -123 0 1 15
13 Kintetsu Liners 10 2 0 8 200 253 -53 0 5 13
14 Coca-Cola Red Sparks 10 2 0 8 160 322 -162 1 3 12
15 Honda Heat 10 1 0 9 186 344 -158 0 2 6
16 Toyota Industries Shuttles 10 1 0 9 160 396 -236 0 2 6
Updated: 4 December 2016

Source: itsrugby.co.uk
  Teams 1 to 4 (Green background) advance to the 2016–17 Top League Title play-offs.
  Teams 13 to 16 (Red background) go on to the 2016–17 Top League relegation play-offs.

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

    League Stage

    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










    Round 14










    Round 15










    References

    1. "Top League Schedule 2016" (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 September 2016.
    2. "Rugby: Sanix top Docomo to earn promotion to Top League". 30 January 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
    3. "Its Rugby Japan". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
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