Japan Rugby League One

"Top League" redirects here. For the Soviet Union association football league, see Soviet Top League.

Japan Rugby League One
Current season
2023–24 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1
SportRugby union
Formerly known asTop League (2003–2021)
Instituted2003
Inaugural season2003–04
Number of teams12
Country Japan
ChampionsBrave Lupus Tokyo
(2023-24)
Most titles
(6 titles)
Websiteleague-one.en
Broadcast partnerJ Sports
DAZN
The Rugby Network
Rugby Pass (outside Japan)
Related competitionTop Challenge League
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Japan Rugby League One (Japanese: ジャパンラグビーリーグワン, romanized: Japanragubīrīguwan), formerly known as the Top League (Japanese: トップリーグ, romanized: Toppurīgu), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the Japan Company Rugby Football Championship. The chief architect of the league was Hiroaki Shukuzawa who strongly felt the urgency of improving Japanese domestic company rugby to a professional level which would allow Japan to compete more convincingly at Rugby World Cups.

Until 2022, it was an industrial league, where many players were employees of their company and the teams were all owned by major companies. While the competition was known for paying high salaries, only world-class foreign players and a small number of Japanese players played fully professionally, which meant most of the players still played in an amateur capacity. The delayed 2021 season was the final season of the Top League, with the JRFU adopting a new fully-professional three-tier system from 2022.[1] More details about the new structure was announced to the media in January 2021. Featuring 25 teams, the 12 top-tier clubs would be split into two conferences, with seven teams competing in division two and six in division three.[2] The new competition was formally announced as Japan Rugby League One in July 2021.[3]

The first season in 2003–04 featured 12 teams. The league was expanded to 14 teams in 2006–07 and 16 teams in 2013–14. While Japan Rugby League One's season[4] overlaps with the start of Super Rugby's season,[5] the Top League played during the off-season of the Super Rugby. Therefore, many full-time foreign professionals from Southern Hemisphere countries played in the Top League, notably Tony Brown, George Gregan and Dan Carter. In the 2010s, salaries in the Top League rose to become some of the highest in the rugby world[citation needed]; in 2012, South Africa's Jaque Fourie, now with Kobelco Steelers, was widely reported to be the world's highest-paid player.[6]

  1. ^ "Framework of Entry Conditions to New League". JRFU. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Japan's new rugby union league to launch in 2022". Sports Pro Media. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  3. ^ "La nouvelle ligue japonaise s'appelle la Japan Rugby League One". Asie Rugby (in French). 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  4. ^ 一般社団法人ジャパンラグビーリーグワン. "JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE OFFICIAL SITE FIXTURES & RESULTS（2022）". 【公式】NTTジャパンラグビー リーグワン (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  5. ^ "2022 Super Rugby Pacific". Super Rugby Pacific. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  6. ^ "The 4.25 million pound question". ESPN Scrum. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.