2015–16 Top League Challenge Series

(Redirected from 2015 Top West League)

The 2015–16 Top League Challenge Series was the 2015–16 edition of the Top League Challenge Series, a second-tier rugby union competition in Japan, in which teams from regionalised leagues competed for promotion to the Top League for the 2016–17 season. The competition was contested from 13 December 2015 to 24 January 2016.

2015–16 Top League Challenge Series
CountriesJapan
Date13 December 2015 – 24 January 2016
ChampionsMunakata Sanix Blues (3rd title)
Runners-upMitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
Matches played9

There was no automatic promotion to the 2016–17 Top League, but Kyuden Voltex, Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars, Munakata Sanix Blues and Osaka Police progressed to the promotion play-offs.

Competition rules and information

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The top two teams from the regional Top East League, Top West League and Top Kyūshū League qualified to the Top League Challenge Series. The regional league winners participated in Challenge 1, while the runners-up participated in Challenge 2. The winner of Challenge 2 also progressed to a four-team Challenge 1.

All four teams in Challenge 1 qualified to the promotion play-offs.

Qualification

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The teams qualified to the Challenge 1 and Challenge 2 series through the 2015 regional leagues.

Top West League

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The final standings for the 2015 Top West League were:[1]

2015 Top West League First Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Osaka Police 4 4 0 0 160 31 +129 3 0 19
2 Chubu Electric Power 4 3 0 1 112 59 +53 2 1 15
3 Unitika Phoenix (P) 4 2 0 2 95 85 +10 1 0 9
4 JR West Railers 4 1 0 3 62 95 −33 1 1 6
5 Mitsubishi Red Evolutions (P) 4 0 0 4 51 210 −159 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.
(P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.
2015 Top West League Second Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Osaka Police 3 3 0 0 67 25 +42 1 0 13
2 Chubu Electric Power 3 2 0 1 95 44 +51 2 1 11
3 JR West Railers 3 1 0 2 24 76 −52 1 0 5
4 Unitika Phoenix (P) 3 0 0 3 38 79 −41 0 1 1
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.
(P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.

Top East League

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The final standings for the 2015 Top East League were:[2]

2015 Top East League standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 9 9 0 0 401 126 +275 9 0 45
2 Kamaishi Seawaves 9 8 0 1 298 176 +122 6 0 38
3 Tokyo Gas 9 7 0 2 376 183 +193 6 0 34
4 Hino Red Dolphins 9 6 0 3 318 185 +133 7 1 32
5 Kurita Water 9 4 0 5 284 230 +54 7 3 26
6 Yakult Levins 9 5 0 4 223 232 −9 3 1 24
7 Akita Northern Bullets 9 2 0 7 121 280 −159 2 1 11
8 Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars 9 2 0 7 203 364 −161 2 1 11
9 IBM Big Blue 9 2 0 7 110 308 −198 1 1 10
10 Secom Rugguts 9 0 0 9 160 410 −250 1 1 2
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.

Top Kyūshū League

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The final standings for the 2015 Top Kyūshū League were:[3]

2015 Top Kyūshū League First Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Munakata Sanix Blues (R) 7 7 0 0 583 22 +561 7 0 35
2 Kyuden Voltex 7 6 0 1 404 87 +317 5 0 29
3 Mazda Blue Zoomers 7 5 0 2 292 179 +113 5 0 25
4 Chugoku Electric Power 7 4 0 3 302 178 +124 4 1 21
5 JR Kyūshū Thunders 7 3 0 4 202 245 −43 4 0 16
6 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 7 2 0 5 152 367 −215 2 0 10
7 Nippon Steel Yawata (P) 7 1 0 6 49 461 −412 1 0 5
8 Fukuoka Bank 7 0 0 7 52 497 −445 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.
(R) indicates a team newly relegated from the Top League. (P) indicates a team newly promoted from lower leagues.
2015 Top Kyūshū League Second Phase standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Munakata Sanix Blues (R) 3 3 0 0 217 12 +205 3 0 15
2 Kyuden Voltex 3 2 0 1 71 105 −34 2 0 10
3 Mazda Blue Zoomers 3 1 0 2 55 143 −88 1 0 5
4 Chugoku Electric Power 3 0 0 3 37 120 −83 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.
(R) indicates a team newly relegated from the Top League.

Challenge 1

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Standings

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The final standings for the 2015–16 Top League Challenge 1 were:[4]

2015–16 Top League Challenge 1 standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Munakata Sanix Blues 3 3 0 0 166 32 +134 3 0 15
2 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 3 2 0 1 115 86 +29 2 0 10
3 Kyuden Voltex 3 1 0 2 64 107 −43 1 0 5
4 Osaka Police 3 0 0 3 22 142 −120 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.

Matches

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The following matches were played in the 2015–16 Top League Challenge 1:[4]


10 January 2016 Munakata Sanix Blues 48–18 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars  


10 January 2016 Osaka Police 3–31 Kyuden Voltex  


17 January 2016 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 54–19 Osaka Police  


17 January 2016 Munakata Sanix Blues 61–14 Kyuden Voltex  


24 January 2016 Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 43–19 Kyuden Voltex  


24 January 2016 Osaka Police 0–57 Munakata Sanix Blues  

Challenge 2

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Standings

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The final standings for the 2015–16 Top League Challenge 2 were:[4]

2015–16 Top League Challenge 2 standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 Kyuden Voltex 2 2 0 0 69 29 +40 2 0 10
2 Kamaishi Seawaves 2 1 0 1 68 50 +18 1 0 5
3 Chubu Electric Power 2 0 0 2 29 87 −58 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.

Matches

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The following matches were played in the 2015–16 Top League Challenge 2:[4]


13 December 2015 Kyuden Voltex 38–12 Kamaishi Seawaves  


20 December 2015 Chubu Electric Power 17–31 Kyuden Voltex  


26 December 2015 Kamaishi Seawaves 56–12 Chubu Electric Power  

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "West Regional Top League 2015/16". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  2. ^ "East Regional Top League 2015/16". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Kyushu Regional Top League 2015/16". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Top League Challenge 2015/16". The Rugby Archive. Retrieved 23 January 2017.