Japanese Top League gooooone

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29-07-19, 03:35
Kiap

Japanese Top League gooooone

The Japanese Top League won't much outlast the Sunwolves in Supe. New pro comp supposedly for 2021 is September to February.

Linky (in French) -- dodgy translation below:

Katsuyuki Kiyomiya announces the creation of a new professional league!
Author Hinato
Published: 07/28/2019

With less than two months of the World Cup rugby was held today the most important and crucial event for the future of Japanese rugby, more than the World XV rugby competition! Katsuyuki Kiyomiya , appointed vice president of the JRFU last month and supports national reforms , announced the creation of a new professional Rugby League! It separated from the Top League and consists of 12 clubs, would start in September 2021.

The former manager of Waseda Univ. (2001-2006), Suntory Sungoliath (2006-2009) and Yamaha Jubilo (2011-2019) said that 12 teams would be based in the twelve host cities of the World Cup Rugby 2019 , namely: Sapporo (Hokkaido ) Kamaishi (Iwate), Kumagaya (Saitama), Tokyo (Tokyo), Yokohama (Kanagawa), Shizuoka (Shizuoka), Toyota (Aichi), Osaka / Higashi-Osaka (Osaka), Kobe (Hyogo), Fukuoka (Fukuoka) , Oita (Oita) and Kumamoto (Kumamoto).

The new league will be a closed league 12 clubs, with finally a real stadium for home games and would be held with a schedule to / between September and January / February is not overlapping with the Super Rugby . Six to eight clubs in Top League (corpo championship) were very favorable to this project. One can in particular thought Panasonic Wild Knights , who moved to Ota and will now move in Kumagaya Stadium .

The sunwolves could also integrate this league representative Tokyo . Kamaishi Seawaves , which evolves Top Challenge League (second division), looks set to represent meanwhile Kamaishi . The Top League cease to exist after the 2021 season and give way to higher national corporate clubs that would play mostly of Japanese players. More details to come on this capital project in November after the World Cup rugby .
29-07-19, 12:39
Alison

Not sure where (or whether) GRR fits into all this??
29-07-19, 12:51
andrewM

OKONUNO
https://youtu.be/76ytNbGaX-M?t=20 :)
29-07-19, 13:10
jargan83

So is this replacing the Top League?
29-07-19, 13:41
Kiap

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrewM

OKONUNO
https://youtu.be/76ytNbGaX-M?t=20 :)

Correct. And an all-time classic ad! I seem to think the phrase somehow first came to prominence in "Shogun" - the James Clavell mini-series - but I can't nail that down (Clavell was an aussie - and wrote some interesting factual/fictional stories). Does anyone recall this?

What does this Top League plan have to do with Rapid Rugby? ... Well, "wakannai naa" ... BUT ...

One thing is significant, though: The calendar being proposed will no longer overlap with a February to June window.

When there was a seasonal overlap in prospect, it was a stick used to beat down the possibilty of Japanese club involvement overseas. Obviously Japan has been booted from Super (South Africa ensured that) so there's no going back there. There is a window, however, for Rapid Rugby.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jargan83

So is this replacing the Top League?

At least the top division of it, I think (assuming this goes ahead). Maybe the "industrial league" would continue on but no longer as the top tier.
29-07-19, 13:47
Kiap

Interesting:

https://i.imgur.com/EWPjuyT.jpg

https://twitter.com/FreemanrugbyJPN/...20799664910336

Plus an article in actual English:

Rugby: JRFU vice president proposes new pro league

KYODO NEWS KYODO NEWS - 17 hours ago - 21:54 | Sports, Rugby2019, All

Former Top League head coach Katsuyuki Kiyomiya, currently a Japan Rugby Football Union vice president, announced Sunday a proposal for a new Japanese professional rugby league.

The proposed league, which would begin operation in the autumn of 2021, would be based at the 12 venues being used to host games for this year's Rugby World Cup in Japan. A formal announcement of the plan is slated for November.

"The only way to change Japanese rugby is by professionalizing it," said Kiyomiya, who had previously coached Waseda University as well as Suntory Sungoliath and Yamaha Jubilo in the Top League.

The new league, he explained, will be a transition away from the current Top League to a new setup and could include the Japan Sunwolves, who are being excluded from Super Rugby after the 2020 season.

Kiyomiya said he had spoken to Top League clubs and said that six to eight "strongly agreed" with the plan. He said the new league's season would run from September to January or February.
29-07-19, 15:42
AndyS

Probably idealistic, but I would have thought that could then tie in very well with three or four regional teams in a higher level competition...
30-07-19, 00:10
chibi

Are the GRR sides looking to jump to this competition?
30-07-19, 01:14
Kiap

Quote:

Originally Posted by chibi

Are the GRR sides looking to jump to this competition?

Do you have any in mind in particular?

For me, I'd doubt it.
30-07-19, 01:18
Kiap

There's a Russian fan from Krasnoyarsk keen to get the two teams from that city involved in GRR.

Japan would be closer, though.
30-07-19, 11:26
BLR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiap

There's a Russian fan from Krasnoyarsk keen to get the two teams from that city involved in GRR.

Japan would be closer, though.

I'd be keen to get the Perth football/soccer team involved in the English Premium League as well....the bloke has said alot about it but there has been no single shred of a link between Russia & GRR. I might go on the thread and start talking about Malawi joining GRR. :P
30-07-19, 13:16
jargan83

I think a team based in Burkina Faso is worth exploring
30-07-19, 14:03
chibi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiap

Do you have any in mind in particular?

WA, Hong Kong, Hawaii-Polynesian Islands, Fiji.
30-07-19, 21:49
cedric rainwater

Quote:

Originally Posted by jargan83

I think a team based in Burkina Faso is worth exploring

could be a good away trip, playing Ouagadougou Warriors.
unfortunately, by next year, nobody will be allowed in or out of africa if the current ebola outbreak continues.
01-08-19, 13:09
Ecky

Quote:

Originally Posted by jargan83

I think a team based in Burkina Faso is worth exploring

Well if you're going there, then we may as well have a team based in Timbuktu
01-08-19, 13:22
GIGS20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ecky

Well if you're going there, then we may as well have a team based in Timbuktu

Joondalup Brothers

Oh so NOW, we're being ridiculous??????????