2006–07 Top League

200px Japan Japan October 2006 – February 2007 Toshiba Brave Lupus 2005–06 2007–08 The 2006–07 Top League was the fourth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The league was expanded to from 12 to 14 teams for the 2006–07 season. The top four teams in the league played in the Microsoft Cup which was officially integrated into the league from this season as the "Top League Play-off Tournament Microsoft Cup". The title was won by Toshiba Brave Lupus which also won the All-Japan Championship. 3 Teams Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and IBM Big Blue were promoted to the league, bringing the number of teams from 12 to 14. TeamRegionCoca-Cola West Red SparksFukuoka, KyushuFukuoka Sanix BluesFukuoka, KyushuIBM Big BlueChiba, KantoKobelco SteelersHyogo, KansaiKubota SpearsChiba, KantoNEC Green RocketsChiba, KantoRicoh Black RamsTokyo, KantoSanyo Wild KnightsGunma, KantoSecom RuggutsSayama, Saitama Suntory SungoliathTokyo, KantoToshiba Brave LupusTokyo, KantoToyota VerblitzAichi, TokaiWorld Fighting Bull Kobe, Kansai Yamaha JubiloShizuoka, Tokai Regular season Final standings Top League TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints1Toshiba Brave Lupus 13 12 0 1 502 234 268 11 1 602Suntory Sungoliath 13 11 0 2 545 161 384 10 2 563Yamaha Jubilo 13 10 1 2 379 306 73 5 1 484Toyota Verblitz 13 9 0 4 448 267 181 8 3 475Sanyo Wild Knights 13 8 0 5 525 321 204 8 3 436Kobelco Steelers 13 8 0 5 360 306 54 8 2 427NEC Green Rockets 13 7 0 6 281 321 -40 7 3 388Kubota Spears 13 5 2 6 385 402 -17 5 1 309Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13 5 1 7 281 423 -142 4 2 2810Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 13 4 0 9 267 368 -101 4 1 2111Ricoh Black Rams 13 4 0 9 233 371 -138 3 2 2112IBM Big Blue 13 2 2 9 241 503 -262 3 1 1613Secom Rugguts 13 2 0 11 255 449 -194 3 3 1414World Fighting Bull 13 1 0 12 211 481 -270 2 1 7 The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs. The top 4 teams also qualified for entry into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. Teams 11 and 12 went through to the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers. 4 Teams 13 and 14 were automatically relegated.http://www.rugbyarchive.net/Pagine/StagioneCompetizioni.aspx?ID=96&Stagione=2006/07 2006/07 Top League The Rugby Archive 2022-05-26 2015-09-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924114637/http://www.rugbyarchive.net/Pagine/StagioneCompetizioni.aspx?ID=96&Stagione=2006%2F07 dead 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 Results Rd 1-13 (source top-league.jp) November 2013 Title play-offs The top four teams in the league were Toshiba, Suntory, Yamaha, and Toyota. They played in the Microsoft Cup (2007) knock-out tournament to fight it out for the Top league title, which was officially integrated into the league from this season as the "Top League Play-off Tournament Microsoft Cup". The cup was won by Toshiba Brave Lupus which also won the All-Japan Championship. Semi-finals 14:00 28 January 2007 Toshiba Brave Lupus 38–35 Toyota Verblitz Chichibu, Tokyo 14:00 28 January 2007 Yamaha Jubilo 39–40 Suntory Sungoliath Hanazono Final 14:00 4 February 2007 Toshiba Brave Lupus 14–13 Suntory Sungoliath Chichibu, Tokyo Top League Challenge Series 2007 Top League Challenge Series Kyuden Voltex and Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars won promotion to the 2007–08 Top League via the 2007 Top League Challenge Series, while Honda Heat and Kintetsu Liners progressed to the promotion play-offs. Promotion and relegation play-offs Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played with the winners qualifying for the 2007–08 Top League. The 11th placed team from the Top League played against the 1st placed team from Challenge 2. The 12th placed team from the Top League played against the 3rd placed team from Challenge 1. 14:00 12 February 2007 IBM Big Blue 29–29 Kintetsu Liners 14:00 12 February 2007 Ricoh Black Rams 43–24 Honda Heat Season awards The season awards were presented at the Tokyo Prince Hotel on 6 February 2007. Toshiba Brave Lupus captain [[Teppei Tomioka]] was named the Top League's most valuable player, while Sanyo Wild Knights wing [[Tomoki Kitagawa]] received the newcomer award and finished as the league's leading try scorer with 19 tries. Suntory Sungoliath's [[Ryan Nicholas]] was the leading points scorer, with 159 points. Luatangi Samurai Vatuvei of Toshiba Brave Lupus was named the Microsoft Cup's most valuable player.<ref>{{cite web |title=ジャパンラグビー トップリーグ2006-2007 トップリーグアワード開催 |url=https://www.top-league.jp/2007/02/08/id3181/ |website=Japan Rugby Top League |language=ja |date=8 February 2007 |access-date=28 August 2026}}</ref>ジャパンラグビー トップリーグ2006-2007 トップリーグアワード開催 https://www.top-league.jp/2007/02/08/id3181/ 2026-08-28 ジャパンラグビートップリーグ ja So IBM (despite only obtaining a draw against Kinetsu), and Ricoh remained in the Top League for 2007–08. References Japan top league Category:2006–07 in Japanese rugby union 2006-07