2021 Top League

2021 Top League
2021 Top League
	Kubota halfback Daisuke Inoue in February 2021
Countries	Japan
Date	20 February 2021 – 23 May 2021
Champions	Panasonic Wild Knights (5th title)
Runners-up	Suntory Sungoliath
Matches played	73
Attendance	250,022 ; (average 3,425 per match)
Highest attendance	8,747 (Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, 3 April 2021)
Top point scorer	Beauden Barrett (168)
Top try scorer	Malo Tuitama (14)
Official website
	www.top-league.jp
	← 2020 2022 →

CountriesJapan

Date20 February 2021 – 23 May 2021

ChampionsPanasonic Wild Knights (5th title)

Runners-upSuntory Sungoliath

The 2021 Top League was the 18th season of Japan's top tier domestic rugby union competition. The original schedule was for a three stage competition that included all 16 Top League teams plus the top four sides from the Top Challenge League, in preparation for the three-tier professional league planned for 2022.^[1] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan the season was postponed and re-formatted.^[2]

Under the revised format, the two leagues were played separately. The Top League sides were split into two conferences of eight teams for the first stage, followed by a 16-team knockout stage to decide the champion team.

[1]

[2]

Club	Region	Head Coach	Captain
Canon Eagles	Machida, Tokyo	Keisuke Sawaki	Yu Tamura
Hino Red Dolphins	Hino, Tokyo	Takuro Miuchi	Kyosuke Horie
Honda Heat	Suzuka, Mie	Danny Lee	Ryota Kobayashi
Kobelco Steelers	Kobe	Dave Dillon	Tom Franklin
Kubota Spears	Abiko, Chiba	Frans Ludeke	Harumichi Tatekawa
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars	Sagamihara	Greg Cooper	Heiden Bedwell-Curtis
Munakata Sanix Blues	Munakata, Fukuoka	Corey Brown	Ryuichiro Fukutsubo
NEC Green Rockets	Abiko, Chiba	Ryota Asano	Ryoi Kamei
NTT Communications Shining Arcs	Chiba Prefecture	Hugh Reece-Edwards	Shokei Kin
NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes	Osaka	Johan Ackermann	Lourens Erasmus
Panasonic Wild Knights	Ōta, Gunma	Robbie Deans	Atsushi Sakate
Ricoh Black Rams	Setagaya	Damien Hill	Shuhei Matsuhashi
Suntory Sungoliath	Fuchū, Tokyo	Milton Haig	Ryoto Nakamura
Toshiba Brave Lupus	Fuchū, Tokyo	Todd Blackadder	Michael Leitch
Toyota Verblitz	Toyota City	Simon Cron	Kaito Shigeno
Yamaha Jubilo	Iwata, Shizuoka	Naoya Okubo	Yuya Odo

Red Conference Standings
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP	Pts
1	Suntory Sungoliath	7	7	0	0	420	129	291	6	34
2	Toyota Verblitz	7	6	0	1	288	186	102	4	28
3	Kubota Spears	7	5	0	2	236	130	106	5	25
4	NTT Communications Shining Arcs	7	3	1	3	236	254	-18	3	17
5	Toshiba Brave Lupus	7	3	0	4	224	229	-5	4	16
6	Honda Heat	7	1	0	5	133	240	-107	2	6
7	Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars	7	1	1	5	123	309	-186	0	6
8	Munakata Sanix Blues	7	1	0	6	139	322	-183	1	5

NTT Communications Shining Arcs	41 - 13	Honda Heat
	Report

Kubota Spears	43 - 17	Munakata Sanix Blues
	Report

Toyota Verblitz	34 - 33	Toshiba Brave Lupus
	Report

2021 Top League

Stage One

Red Conference

Ladder

Fixtures & Results

White Conference

Ladder

Fixtures & Results

Playoff Stage

First round

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Notes

References

Related Articles

Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars	7 - 75	Suntory Sungoliath
	Report

Munakata Sanix Blues	23 - 30	Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars
	Report

Toshiba Brave Lupus	58 - 7	Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars
	Report

Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars	26 - 26	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
	Report

Toshiba Brave Lupus	19 - 45	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
	Report

NTT Communications Shining Arcs	40 - 21	Munakata Sanix Blues
	Report

Suntory Sungoliath	94 - 31	NTT Communications Shining Arcs
	Report

NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes	13 - 26	Panasonic Wild Knights
	Report

Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars	24 - 17	Coca-Cola Red Sparks
	Report

Toshiba Brave Lupus	24 - 27	Ricoh Black Rams
Try: Jone Naikabula (2) 3' m 64' c Daigo Hashimoto 61' m Takahiro Ogawa 80+2' c Con: Jack Stratton (0/2) Takahiro Ogawa (2/2) 65' 80+3'	Report	Try: Takei Hinata 15' c Toshiya Takahashi 24' c Shota Yamamoto 78' c Con: Matt McGahan (3/3) 16' 25' 79' Pen: Matt McGahan (2/2) 9' 39'

Kubota Spears	46 - 12	Yamaha Júbilo
Try: Bernard Foley 12' c Finau Tupa 25' c Penalty Try 29' Lappies Labuschagné (3) 53' m 74' c 77' c Con: Bernard Foley (2/3) 14' 26' Gerhard van den Heever (2/2) 75' 78' Pen: Bernard Foley (2/2) 22' 60'	Report	Try: Chikara Ito 3' c Kakeru Okumura 72' Con: Kakeru Okumura (1/2) 4' Pen: Kakeru Okumura (0/1)

Suntory Sungoliath	76 - 31	NEC Green Rockets
Try: Beauden Barrett (2) 2' c 74' c Shota Emi 6' m Sean McMahon 12' m Takaaki Nakazuru (2) 28' m 33' m Yukio Morikawa 38' c Penalty Try 42' Yutaka Nagare 43' c Seiya Ozaki 56' c Samu Kerevi 64' c Con: Beauden Barrett (4/8) 3' 34' 40' 44' Hikaru Tamura (3/3) 57' 65' 75'	Report	Try: Daiki Nakajima (3) 22' m 53' c 80' c Pat Tafa 62' c Keisuke Yamada 78' m Con: Alex Goode (2/4) 53' 63' Benhard Janse van Rensburg (1/1) 80+1'

Kobelco Steelers	50 - 17	Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars
Try: Richard Buckman 9' c Ryohei Yamanaka 14' m Lui Naeata 21' m Ataata Moeakiola 41' c Hikaru Hashimoto (2) 50' c 68' m Brodie Retallick 60' c Hirotaka Hirabara 72' c Con: Timothy Lafaele (0/1) Aaron Cruden (4/6) 11' 42' 51' 61' Lee Seung-sin (1/1) 73' Pen: Aaron Cruden (0/1)	Report	Try: Ippei Yamamoto 26' c Michael Little 57' c Con: James Wilson (2/2) 27' 58' Pen: James Wilson (1/1) 17'

NTT Communications Shining Arcs	13 - 43	Canon Eagles
Try: Doga Maeda 51' c Con: Greig Laidlaw (1/1) 52' Pen: Greig Laidlaw (2/2) 9' 17'	Report	Try: Kobus van Dyk 5' c SP Marais (2) 23' c 73' c Jesse Kriel 40+1' m Ed Quirk 55' c Amanaki Saumaki 78' c Con: Yu Tamura (4/5) 6' 57' 74' 80' Jumpei Ogura (1/1) 24' Pen: Yu Tamura (1/1) 44'

Honda Heat	13 - 21	NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes
Try: Nobutaka Ubukata 61' m Franco Mostert 67' m Con: Gwangtee Oh (0/2) Pen: Gwangtee Oh (1/1) 17' Matt Duffie (0/1)	Report	Try: Makazole Mapimpi 26' c Lourens Erasmus 39' c TJ Perenara 57' c Con: Ei Kawamuko (3/3) 27' 40' 58'

Panasonic Wild Knights	54 - 7	Kintetsu Liners
Try: Jack Cornelsen (2) 28' c 44' m Itsuki Onishi 52' c Dylan Riley 68' c Ryuji Noguchi 71' c Kenki Fukuoka 75' m 78' c Con: Rikiya Matsuda (3/4) 29' 53' 68' Takuya Yamasawa (2/3) 72' 79' Pen: Rikiya Matsuda (3/3) 50' 56' 60'	Report	Try: Joshua Nohra 16' c Con: Patrick Stehlin (1/1) 17'

Toyota Verblitz	49 - 29	Hino Red Dolphins
Try: Jamie Henry 15' c Taichi Takahashi (2) 20' c 78' c Male Sa'u 27' c Fetuani Lautaimi 48' c Rob Thompson 67' c Takehito Namekawa 75' c Con: Lionel Cronjé (7/7) 16' 21' 27' 48' 68' 76' 79'	Report	Try: Chance Peni (2) 4' c 59'c Taiki Kawai 63' c Yuki Go 80+2' m Con: Taro Togo (3/3) 6' 60' 64' Toshizumi Kitagawa (0/1) Pen: Taro Togo (1/1) 23'

Toyota Verblitz	33 - 29	NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes
Try: Kieran Read 41' c Jamie Henry (2) 62' c 71' m Con: Lionel Cronjé (2/3) 42' 63' Pen: Lionel Cronjé (3/3) 9' 22' 48'	Report	Try: Tom Marshall 15' m Mifiposeti Paea 27' c Wimpie van der Walt 43' c Kouk Shigeno 52' c Con: Marty Banks (3/4) 28' 45' 54' Pen: Marty Banks (1/2) 1'

Panasonic Wild Knights	32 - 17	Canon Eagles
Try: Dylan Riley 2' c Keisuke Uchida 14' c Kenki Fukuoka 61' m Shota Fukui 66' c Con: Rikiya Matsuda (2/3) 3' 15' Takuya Yamasawa (1/1) 67' Pen: Rikiya Matsuda (2/2) 29' 32'	Report	Try: Yu Tamura 47' c Naoya Minamihashi 68' c Con: Yu Tamura (2/2) 48' 69' Pen: Yu Tamura (1/1) 8'

Kobelco Steelers	21 - 23	Kubota Spears
Try: Hayden Parker 39' c Atsushi Hiwasa 63' c Rakuhei Yamashita 70' c Con: Hayden Parker (1/1) 40' Aaron Cruden (2/2) 64' 71' Pen: Hayden Parker (0/1)	Report	Try: Sione Vatuvei 3' c Honeti Taumohaapai 9' c Con: Bernard Foley (2/2) 4' 10' Pen: Bernard Foley (1/2) 24' Gerhard van den Heever (2/3) 61' 76'

Panasonic Wild Knights	48 - 21	Toyota Verblitz
Try: Kenki Fukuoka (3) 1' m 69' c 77' c Takuya Yamasawa 60' c Dylan Riley 75' c Con: Rikiya Matsuda (3/4) 62' 70' 76' Takuya Yamasawa (1/1) 78' Pen: Rikiya Matsuda (4/6) 21' 27' 33' 46' Drop: Rikiya Matsuda 24'	Report	Try: Masato Furukawa 5' m Taichi Takahashi (2) 9' m 16' m Con: Lionel Cronjé (0/3) Pen: Lionel Cronjé (2/3) 35' 47'

Suntory Sungoliath	26 - 9	Kubota Spears
Try: Shota Emi 33' m Con: Beauden Barrett (0/1) Pen: Beauden Barrett (6/7) 25' 30' 42' 49' 55' 59' Drop: Beauden Barrett 20'	Report	Pen: Gerhard van den Heever (3/3) 8' 23' 47'

Suntory Sungoliath	26 - 31	Panasonic Wild Knights
Try: Ryoto Nakamura 35' c Takaaki Nakazuru 42' m Naoto Saito 70' c Seiya Ozaki 78' c Con: Beauden Barrett (3/4) 37' 71' 79' Pen: Beauden Barrett (0/1)	Report	Try: Dylan Riley 5' c Kenki Fukuoka 30' c Asaeli Ai Valu 55' m Con: Rikiya Matsuda (2/3) 6' 31' Pen: Rikiya Matsuda (3/3) 14' 25' 39' Takuya Yamasawa (1/2) 73'