2018–19 Top League

The 2018–19 Top League^[a] was the 16th season of Japan's top-tier domestic rugby union competition, the Top League.

2018–19 Top League
Kobelco, the 56th All-Japan Champions in 2018–19
Countries	Japan
Date	31 August – 15 December 2018
Champions	Kobelco Steelers (2nd title)
Runners-up	Suntory Sungoliath
Matches played	80
Attendance	465,556 (average 5,819 per match)
Highest attendance	31,332 (Toyota Verblitz v Suntory Sungoliath, Round 1)
Lowest attendance	736 (Coca-Cola Red Sparks v Toyota Industries Shuttles, 15th-place play-off)
Top point scorer	Sam Greene (68)
Top try scorer	Lomano Lemeki (8)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Competition rules

The sixteen Top League teams were divided into two conferences for the first stage of the competition; each team played the seven other teams in their conferences once.^[1]

All sixteen teams then progressed to a play-off stage; the top four teams in each conference advanced to the title play-offs and the bottom four teams in each conference to the 9th-place play-offs, which determined the final positions for the season. The title play-offs doubled up as the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship, which would no longer include university teams.^[2] The bottom four teams in the 9th-place play-off all played in relegation play-off matches.^[3]

Teams

The following teams took part in the 2018 Top League competition:

Red Conference
Team name	Region
Hino Red Dolphins	Hino, Tokyo, Kanto
Kobelco Steelers	Kobe, Kansai
Munakata Sanix Blues	Munakata, Fukuoka, Kyushu
NEC Green Rockets	Abiko, Chiba, Kanto
NTT Communications Shining Arcs	Chiba, Chiba, Kanto
Suntory Sungoliath	Fuchu, Tokyo, Kanto
Toyota Industries Shuttles	Nagoya, Aichi, Chūbu
Toyota Verblitz	Toyota City, Aichi, Chūbu
White Conference
Team name	Region
Canon Eagles	Machida, Tokyo, Kanto
Coca-Cola Red Sparks	Fukuoka, Kyushu
Honda Heat	Suzuka, Mie, Kansai
Kubota Spears	Abiko, Chiba, Kanto
Panasonic Wild Knights	Ota, Gunma, Kanto
Ricoh Black Rams	Tokyo, Kanto
Toshiba Brave Lupus	Fuchu, Tokyo, Kanto
Yamaha Júbilo	Iwata, Shizuoka, Chūbu

• Honda Heat won the 2017–18 Top Challenge League to win promotion back to the Top League after a one-season absence.
• Hino Red Dolphins won their promotion play-off match to win promotion to the Top League for the first time in their history.

First Stage : Red Conference

Standings

The current standings for the 2018 Top League First Stage Red Conference are:

2018 Top League First Stage Red Conference standings
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	Kobelco Steelers	7	6	1	0	353	156	+197	4	0	30
2	Suntory Sungoliath	7	6	0	1	239	164	+75	2	0	26
3	Toyota Verblitz	7	5	1	1	237	135	+102	3	1	26
4	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	7	3	0	4	252	192	+60	3	4	19
5	NEC Green Rockets	7	3	0	4	171	191	−20	1	1	14
6	Toyota Industries Shuttles	7	3	0	4	163	233	−70	0	0	12
7	Hino Red Dolphins	7	1	0	6	123	261	−138	1	1	6
8	Munakata Sanix Blues	7	0	0	7	75	281	−206	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. The top four teams qualified for the title play-offs. The bottom four teams in each conference qualified to the 9th-place play-offs.

Matches

The 2018 Top League First Stage Red Conference fixtures are:^[4]

Round 1

	31 August 2018	Hino Red Dolphins	33–3	Munakata Sanix Blues	Machida Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[5]		Attendance: 3,867

	31 August 2018	Kobelco Steelers	34–27	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[6]		Attendance: 5,430

	1 September 2018	Toyota Verblitz	25–27	Suntory Sungoliath	Toyota Stadium
	19:00		Scoreboard[7]		Attendance: 31,332

	1 September 2018	NEC Green Rockets	8–9	Toyota Industries Shuttles	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	16:30		Scoreboard[8]		Attendance: 4,079

Round 2

	7 September 2018	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	18–20	Suntory Sungoliath	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[9]		Attendance: 9,029

	8 September 2018	NEC Green Rockets	5–29	Toyota Verblitz	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:00		Scoreboard[10]		Attendance: 8,153

	8 September 2018	Toyota Industries Shuttles	15–14	Hino Red Dolphins	Wave Stadium Kariya
	17:00		Scoreboard[11]		Attendance: 3,640

• The match between Kobelco Steelers and Munakata Sanix Blues scheduled for Round 2 was postponed following the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake^[12] and was rescheduled for 29 September.^[13]

Round 3

	14 September 2018	Suntory Sungoliath	20–36	Kobelco Steelers	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[14]		Attendance: 17,576

	15 September 2018	Hino Red Dolphins	14–36	Toyota Verblitz	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	16:30		Scoreboard[15]		Attendance: 8,606

	15 September 2018	Toyota Industries Shuttles	26–64	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
	17:00		Scoreboard[16]		Attendance: 1,666

	15 September 2018	Munakata Sanix Blues	15–24	NEC Green Rockets	Level5 Stadium
	15:00		Scoreboard[17]		Attendance: 2,079

Round 4

	22 September 2018	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	45–28	Hino Red Dolphins	Yurtec Stadium Sendai
	16:00		Scoreboard[18]		Attendance: 2,347

	22 September 2018	Suntory Sungoliath	47–31	NEC Green Rockets	NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium
	18:00		Scoreboard[19]		Attendance: 3,765

	22 September 2018	Toyota Verblitz	26–26	Kobelco Steelers	Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium
	18:00		Scoreboard[20]		Attendance: 8,030

	22 September 2018	Munakata Sanix Blues	15–32	Toyota Industries Shuttles	Kashihara
	16:00		Scoreboard[21]		Attendance: 944

Round 2 (rescheduled)

	29 September 2018	Kobelco Steelers	69–5	Munakata Sanix Blues	Tsukisamu Gymnasium
	13:00		Scoreboard[22]		Attendance: 2,125

Round 5

	6 October 2018	Munakata Sanix Blues	7–52	Toyota Verblitz	Global Arena
	13:00		Scoreboard[23]		Attendance: 1,305

	7 October 2018	NEC Green Rockets	34–31	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	Kashiwanoha Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[24]		Attendance: 3,585

	7 October 2018	Suntory Sungoliath	35–24	Toyota Industries Shuttles	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[25]		Attendance: 2,034

	7 October 2018	Kobelco Steelers	74–10	Hino Red Dolphins	Kincho Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[26]		Attendance: 4,969

Round 6

	13 October 2018	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	36–38	Toyota Verblitz	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	14:00		Scoreboard[27]		Attendance: 10,177

	13 October 2018	NEC Green Rockets	38–12	Hino Red Dolphins	Kashiwanoha Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[28]		Attendance: 2,680

	13 October 2018	Toyota Industries Shuttles	37–66	Kobelco Steelers	Kincho Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[29]		Attendance: 4,803

	13 October 2018	Munakata Sanix Blues	18–40	Suntory Sungoliath	Global Arena
	13:00		Scoreboard[30]		Attendance: 2,248

Round 7

	20 October 2018	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	31–12	Munakata Sanix Blues	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	11:30		Scoreboard[31]		Attendance: 5,242

	20 October 2018	Hino Red Dolphins	12–50	Suntory Sungoliath	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	14:00		Scoreboard[32]		Attendance: 8,231

	20 October 2018	Toyota Verblitz	31–20	Toyota Industries Shuttles	Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[33]		Attendance: 8,662

	20 October 2018	Kobelco Steelers	48–31	NEC Green Rockets	Noevir Stadium Kobe
	13:00		Scoreboard[34]		Attendance: 10,513

First Stage : White Conference

Standings

The current standings for the 2018 Top League First Stage White Conference are:

2018 Top League First Stage White Conference standings
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	Yamaha Júbilo	7	6	0	1	216	112	+104	4	0	28
2	Panasonic Wild Knights	7	6	0	1	206	96	+110	3	0	27
3	Kubota Spears	7	5	0	2	172	119	+53	1	2	23
4	Ricoh Black Rams	7	4	0	3	191	165	+26	1	3	20
5	Honda Heat	7	2	1	4	207	221	−14	2	2	14
6	Toshiba Brave Lupus	7	2	0	5	150	186	−36	1	3	12
7	Canon Eagles	7	2	1	4	131	175	−44	1	1	12
8	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	7	0	0	7	116	315	−199	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. The top four teams qualified for the title play-offs. The bottom four teams in each conference qualified to the 9th-place play-offs.

Matches

The 2018 Top League First Stage White Conference fixtures are:^[4]

Round 1

	31 August 2018	Canon Eagles	26–20	Toshiba Brave Lupus	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[35]		Attendance: 9,477

	31 August 2018	Panasonic Wild Knights	15–11	Kubota Spears	Kincho Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[36]		Attendance: 4,199

	1 September 2018	Yamaha Júbilo	43–3	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	Toyota Stadium
	16:30		Scoreboard[37]		Attendance: 19,023

	1 September 2018	Ricoh Black Rams	39–34	Honda Heat	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:00		Scoreboard[38]		Attendance: 6,312

Round 2

	8 September 2018	Kubota Spears	18–20	Yamaha Júbilo	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	16:30		Scoreboard[39]		Attendance: 6,752

	8 September 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	17–62	Panasonic Wild Knights	Saga Stadium
	17:00		Scoreboard[40]		Attendance: 2,421

	8 September 2018	Honda Heat	19–19	Canon Eagles	Mie Sports Garden
	17:00		Scoreboard[41]		Attendance: 3,305

	9 September 2018	Ricoh Black Rams	17–20	Toshiba Brave Lupus	Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium
	16:00		Scoreboard[42]		Attendance: 3,811

Round 3

	15 September 2018	Toshiba Brave Lupus	24–31	Panasonic Wild Knights	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:00		Scoreboard[43]		Attendance: 11,321

	15 September 2018	Kubota Spears	14–3	Canon Eagles	Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium
	17:00		Scoreboard[44]		Attendance: 2,480

	15 September 2018	Yamaha Júbilo	34–16	Honda Heat	Yamaha Stadium
	17:00		Scoreboard[45]		Attendance: 5,024

	15 September 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	15–36	Ricoh Black Rams	Level5 Stadium
	17:30		Scoreboard[46]		Attendance: 3,153

Round 4

	21 September 2018	Ricoh Black Rams	21–17	Canon Eagles	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:30		Scoreboard[47]		Attendance: 6,632

	22 September 2018	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29–14	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	16:30		Scoreboard[48]		Attendance: 9,798

	22 September 2018	Panasonic Wild Knights	15–0	Yamaha Júbilo	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	19:00		Scoreboard[49]		Attendance: 13,128

	22 September 2018	Honda Heat	29–31	Kubota Spears	City Light Stadium
	15:00		Scoreboard[50]		Attendance: 2,844

Round 5

	6 October 2018	Yamaha Júbilo	27–7	Toshiba Brave Lupus	Yamaha Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[51]		Attendance: 5,755

	6 October 2018	Honda Heat	12–41	Panasonic Wild Knights	Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
	13:00		Scoreboard[52]		Attendance: 3,414

	6 October 2018	Kubota Spears	22–16	Ricoh Black Rams	Tenri
	13:00		Scoreboard[53]		Attendance: 1,803

	7 October 2018	Canon Eagles	43–24	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium
	11:30		Scoreboard[54]		Attendance: 1,365

Round 6

	13 October 2018	Canon Eagles	17–52	Yamaha Júbilo	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
	11:30		Scoreboard[55]		Attendance: 7,338

	13 October 2018	Toshiba Brave Lupus	24–26	Kubota Spears	Iwaki Green Field
	13:00		Scoreboard[56]		Attendance: 3,472

	13 October 2018	Panasonic Wild Knights	17–26	Ricoh Black Rams	Ōta
	13:00		Scoreboard[57]		Attendance: 3,542

	13 October 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	31–52	Honda Heat	Nagasaki
	13:00		Scoreboard[58]		Attendance: 1,151

Round 7

	20 October 2018	Panasonic Wild Knights	25–6	Canon Eagles	Kumagaya Rugby Ground
	15:00		Scoreboard[59]		Attendance: 13,849

	20 October 2018	Yamaha Júbilo	40–36	Ricoh Black Rams	Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium
	14:00		Scoreboard[60]		Attendance: 3,754

	20 October 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	12–50	Kubota Spears	Coca-Cola West Hiroshima Stadium
	14:00		Scoreboard[61]		Attendance: 1,884

	20 October 2018	Honda Heat	45–26	Toshiba Brave Lupus	Mie Sports Garden
	13:00		Scoreboard[62]		Attendance: 3,586

Second stage

Standings

The final standings for the 2018 Top League were:

2018–19 Top League standings
Pos	Team
1	Kobelco Steelers
2	Suntory Sungoliath
3	Yamaha Júbilo
4	Toyota Verblitz
5	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
6	Panasonic Wild Knights
7	Kubota Spears
8	Ricoh Black Rams
9	Honda Heat
10	NEC Green Rockets
11	Toshiba Brave Lupus
12	Canon Eagles
13	Munakata Sanix Blues
14	Hino Red Dolphins
15	Toyota Industries Shuttles
16	Coca-Cola Red Sparks
Top League and All-Japan Rugby Football Championship champions. The 13th to 16th-placed teams qualify to the relegation play-offs.

Title play-offs

The four quarter final winners qualified for the semi-finals, while the losers qualified for the 5th-place semi-finals.

Quarter final	1 December 2018	Suntory Sungoliath	28–26	Kubota Spears
	14:00		Scoreboard[63]		Attendance: 11,770

Quarter final	1 December 2018	Yamaha Júbilo	33–21	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
	13:00		Scoreboard[64]		Attendance: 7,286

Quarter final	2 December 2018	Panasonic Wild Knights	27–31	Toyota Verblitz
	14:00		Scoreboard[65]		Attendance: 6,739

Quarter final	2 December 2018	Kobelco Steelers	63–27	Ricoh Black Rams
	13:00		Scoreboard[66]		Attendance: 6,403

The two semi-final winners qualified for the final, while the losers qualified for the 3rd-place match. The two 5th-place semi-final winners qualified for the 5th-place match, while the losers qualified for the 7th-place match.

Semi-final	8 December 2018	Suntory Sungoliath	28–25	Yamaha Júbilo
	16:00		Scoreboard[67]		Attendance: 8,779

Semi-final	8 December 2018	Kobelco Steelers	31–19	Toyota Verblitz
	14:00		Scoreboard[68]		Attendance: 11,255

5th-place semi-final	8 December 2018	Kubota Spears	13–36	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
	13:30		Scoreboard[69]		Attendance: 6,455

5th-place semi-final	8 December 2018	Ricoh Black Rams	26–35	Panasonic Wild Knights
	11:45		Scoreboard[70]		Attendance: 8,745

The final matches determined the final standings.

Final	15 December 2018	Kobelco Steelers	55–5	Suntory Sungoliath
	14:00		Scoreboard[71]		Attendance: 17,401

3rd-place	15 December 2018	Toyota Verblitz	12–15	Yamaha Júbilo
	11:30		Scoreboard[72]		Attendance: 13,075

5th-place	15 December 2018	Panasonic Wild Knights	41–43	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
	14:00		Scoreboard[73]		Attendance: 2,618

7th-place	15 December 2018	Ricoh Black Rams	26–30	Kubota Spears
	11:30		Scoreboard[74]		Attendance: 1,563

9th-place play-offs

The four 9th-place quarter final winners qualified for the 9th-place semi-finals, while the losers qualified for the 13th-place semi-finals and the relegation play-offs.

9th-place quarter final	1 December 2018	NEC Green Rockets	43–17	Coca-Cola Red Sparks
	11:30		Scoreboard[75]		Attendance: 5,340

9th-place quarter final	1 December 2018	Honda Heat	38–34	Munakata Sanix Blues
	14:00		Scoreboard[76]		Attendance: 2,112

9th-place quarter final	2 December 2018	Toshiba Brave Lupus	48–26	Hino Red Dolphins
	11:30		Scoreboard[77]		Attendance: 4,676

9th-place quarter final	2 December 2018	Toyota Industries Shuttles	17–51	Canon Eagles
	13:00		Scoreboard[78]		Attendance: 1,007

The two 9th-place semi-final winners qualified for the 9th-place final, while the losers qualified for the 11th-place match. The two 13th-place semi-final winners qualified for the 13th-place match, while the losers qualified for the 15th-place match.

9th-place semi-final	8 December 2018	NEC Green Rockets	47–26	Toshiba Brave Lupus
	13:30		Scoreboard[79]		Attendance: 1,789

9th-place semi-final	9 December 2018	Canon Eagles	14–40	Honda Heat
	14:00		Scoreboard[80]		Attendance: 3,164

13th-place semi-final	8 December 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	36–40	Hino Red Dolphins
	11:30		Scoreboard[81]		Attendance: 1,063

13th-place semi-final	9 December 2018	Toyota Industries Shuttles	31–32	Munakata Sanix Blues
	11:30		Scoreboard[82]		Attendance: 1,592

The final matches will determine the final standings.

9th-place	15 December 2018	NEC Green Rockets	24–30	Honda Heat
	14:00		Scoreboard[83]		Attendance: 1,759

11th-place	15 December 2018	Toshiba Brave Lupus	31–18	Canon Eagles
	11:30		Scoreboard[84]		Attendance: 1,214

13th-place	15 December 2018	Hino Red Dolphins	34–37	Munakata Sanix Blues
	14:00		Scoreboard[85]		Attendance: 1,305

15th-place	15 December 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	31–36	Toyota Industries Shuttles
	11:30		Scoreboard[86]		Attendance: 736

Relegation play-offs

The matches played were:

• Top League sides Hino Red Dolphins and Munakata Sanix Blues won their matches to remain in the Top League for 2019–20.
• Top League sides Coca-Cola Red Sparks and Toyota Industries Shuttles lost their matches and were relegated to the Top Challenge League for 2019.
• Top Challenge League sides Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won their matches to win promotion to the Top League for 2019–20.
• Top Challenge League sides Kintetsu Liners and Kurita Water Gush lost their matches to remain in the Top Challenge League for 2019.

	23 December 2018	Munakata Sanix Blues	75–0	Kurita Water Gush
	13:00		Scoreboard[87]		Attendance: 1,110

	23 December 2018	Hino Red Dolphins	21–11	Kintetsu Liners
	13:00		Scoreboard[88]		Attendance: 1,780

	23 December 2018	Toyota Industries Shuttles	7–31	Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
	13:00		Scoreboard[89]		Attendance: 3,288

	23 December 2018	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	24–33	NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes
	13:00		Scoreboard[90]		Attendance: 3,746

See also

• 2018–19 Top League Cup
• 2018 Top Challenge League

Notes

1. Despite the competition starting and finishing in 2018, it's still widely referred to as the 2018–19 Top League rather than the 2018 Top League. The overall season still extends into 2019, with the 2018–19 Top League Cup finishing in January 2019.