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2012–13 Top League

Japanese rugby union season

Field	Value
image	Shinya Makabe 2013.jpg
imagesize	180px
caption	Captain Shinya Makabe of Suntory, winner
of the Top League and [All Japan](50th-all-japan-rugby-football-championship) double.
countries	Japan Japan
date	31 August 2012 – 27 January 2013
champions	Suntory Sungoliath (3rd title)
runnersup	Toshiba Brave Lupus
top point scorer	JPN Ayumu Goromaru (149 pts)
Yamaha Júbilo
top try scorer	JPN Akihito Yamada (18 tries)
Panasonic Wild Knights
prevseason	[2011–12](2011-12-top-league)
nextseason	[2013–14](2013-14-top-league)

of the Top League and All Japan double. Yamaha Júbilo Panasonic Wild Knights 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

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

Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Suntory Sungoliath	13	13	0	0	481	258	+223	11	0
2	Toshiba Brave Lupus	13	10	0	3	478	266	+212	8	2
3	Panasonic Wild Knights	13	10	0	3	509	275	+234	8	1
4	Kobelco Steelers	13	9	1	3	468	255	+213	9	2
5	Toyota Verblitz	13	9	1	3	343	291	+52	4	1
6	Yamaha Júbilo	13	8	0	5	430	311	+119	7	3
7	Kintetsu Liners	13	6	0	7	356	308	+48	6	3
8	NEC Green Rockets	13	6	0	7	399	375	+24	7	1
9	NTT Com Shining Arcs	13	7	0	6	240	313	–73	1	2
10	Ricoh Black Rams	13	5	0	8	322	360	–38	5	3
11	Canon Eagles	13	3	0	10	287	382	–95	5	2
12	Kyuden Voltex	13	2	0	11	238	593	–355	5	3
13	NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes	13	1	0	12	217	524	–307	2	2
14	Fukuoka Sanix Blues	13	1	0	12	256	513	–257	2	1

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Go Aruga
Hirotoki Onozawa
Kosei Ono
Tusi Pisi

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Ito 6' c Senba 18' c Nakai 23' c Hirose 29' m Fujiya (2) 38' c, 46' c Leitch (2) 42' c, 52' c Kubo 57' c Kajikawa (2) 60' c, 76' c Mikami 66' m Bates 70' c Asahama 74' c Yoshida (3/4)

Round 13

{{anchor|Cup}} 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

Pisi (2) 57', 78' Murata 60' Maekawa 27' Ohashi 32'

Shin Ito 79' R Yoshida 79'

Final

Pisi 75'

|} | Touch judges:

JPN Noboru Tanaka

JPN Yuki Fuji

Television Match Official:

JPN Takashi Harada |}--

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.

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

Team of the season

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

References

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References

"2012/13 Top League". The Rugby Archive.

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