Suntory Sungoliath Top League Profile 2013-14
Top League Profiles 2013-14
(1) Suntory Sungoliath
http://www.suntory.co.jp/culture-sports/sungoliath/
2013-14 Introduction : In the 2011-12 season under the guidance of Eddie Jones, Suntory swept all before them collecting the Top League and National Championship double. Jones moved on to become the head coach of the Japan national side with Suntory stalwart Naoya Okubo taking over where Jones left off to once again win both the Top League and National Championship titles last season.
Nevertheless, Suntory as the reigning Top League champions will come into the new season as favourites to defend their title. The Sungoliath have some of the cream of local rugby talent in their ranks such as tighthead prop Kensuke Hatakeyama, flanker Takamichi Sasaki, halfback Atsushi Hiwasa, centre Koji Taira and wing Hirotoki Onozawa. Meanwhile, the overseas talent is just as impressive with the likes of, flanker George Smith, halfback Fourie de Preez and five-eighth Tusi Pisi in the squad. Suntory lost lock Dannie Rossouw and fullback Peter Hewat in the off-season but New Zealand born backrower Hendrik Tui is a new acquisition from Panasonic.
Established : Suntory were established in 1980. Suntory are based in the western Tokyo area of Fuchu. The team mascot is a gorilla. For the moniker Sungoliath, “Sun” refers to the sun in the sky and “Goliath” refers to the David and Goliath story.
The Company : beverage maker of such consumables as beer, whiskey and a variety of waters, soft drinks and coffees.
Titles :
Top League – three times (2007-8, 2011-12 and 2012-13); runners-up twice (2006-7 and 2010-11).
From the 2003-4 season to the 2005-6 season, Top League consisted of 12 teams and the team that finished on top of the table claimed the title. In the 2006-7 season, Top League was increased to 14 teams with the top four finishers on the ladder progressing to the Microsoft Cup, the play-off series to determine the overall Top League champion. From the 2009-10 season, the Microsoft company did not renew their naming rights sponsorship and so the finals series became known as the Top League Play-off Tournament.
2012-13 (14 teams): Champions. 1st on table on 63 points with 13 wins. Beat Kobe 38-19 in Play-off semi-final and Toshiba 19-3 in final.
2011-12 (14 teams): Champions. 1st on table on 57 points with 12 wins and 1 loss. Beat NEC 56-8 in Play-off semi-final and Panasonic 47-28 in final.
2010-11 (14 teams): Runners-up. 4th on table on 50 points with 10 wins and 3 losses. Beat Toshiba 17-12 in Play-off semi-final then lost to Sanyo 28-23 in final.
2009-10 (14 teams): 2nd on table on 58 points with 11 wins and 2 draws. Lost to Toshiba 35-24 in Play-off semi-final.
2008-9 (14 teams): 3rd on table on 51 points with 10 wins and 3 losses. (See 2009 Microsoft Cup below for further details)
2007-8 (14 teams): Champions. Finished 2nd on table on 53 points with 10 wins, a draw and 2 losses. (See 2008 Microsoft Cup below for further details)
2006-7 (14 teams): Runners-up. 2nd on table on 56 points with 11 wins and 2 losses. (See 2007 Microsoft Cup below for further details)
2005-6 (12 teams): 6th on table on 32 points with 6 wins and 5 losses.
2004-5 (12 teams): 8th on table on 24 points with 4 wins and 7 losses.
2003-4 (12 teams): 4th on table on 37 points with 8 wins and 3 losses.
Microsoft Cup – (as a standalone Cup 2004-2006) none; runners-up once (2006).
From 2004 to 2006 the Microsoft Cup was a separate knock-out tournament for the top 8 finishers in Top League. From 2007 the Microsoft Cup acted as the play-off finals series to determine the overall Top League champion with the top four finishers on the Top League ladder progressing to the Microsoft Cup. The Microsoft company did not renew their naming rights sponsorship for the 2009-10 Top League season and so the 2010 finals series became known as the Top League Play-off Tournament.
2009 : Knocked out by Sanyo 32-22 in semi-final.
2008 : Champions. Beat Toyota 33-10 in semi-final. Beat Sanyo 14-10 in final.
2007 : Runners-up. Beat Yamaha 40-39 in semi-final. Lost to Toshiba 14-13 in final.
2006 : Runners-up. Beat Yamaha 35-17 in first round & Kubota 44-25 in semi-final. Lost to Toshiba 33-18 in final.
2005 : Knocked out by eventual champion Toshiba 33-13 in first round.
2004 : Knocked out by eventual champion NEC 5-32 in first round.
National Championship – 6 times (1996, 2001 (joint champions with Kobe after final drawn 27-all), 2002, 2011, 2012 and 2013); runners-up 3 times (2003, 2008 and 2009).
After 22 teams participated in the 2004 National Championship it was reduced to 8 teams for 2005 consisting of the top four Top League sides, the top two universities, the top challenger from lower divisions and the top club side. In 2009 the number of teams was increased to ten with two additional Top League sides.
For 2010 the Wildcard Tournament was introduced to the National Championship for the Top League sides that finished fifth to tenth on the final table. In 2011 these six sides were: Kobe (fifth on 36 points), NEC (sixth on 34 points), Ricoh (seventh on 32 points), Sanix (eighth on 32 points), Kintetsu (ninth on 31 points) and Coca-Cola (tenth on 28 points). The teams played off over two weekends with Kobe and Ricoh winning the right to participate in the NC as the final two Top League participants. In 2012 the Wildcard Tournament was abbreviated to the four teams that finished fifth to eighth with fifth placed Kintetsu Liners playing eighth placed Yamaha Jubilo and sixth placed Kobe Steelers playing seventh placed Ricoh Black Rams. Kobe beat Ricoh 32-19 and Yamaha beat Kintetsu 17-15 with the winners thus qualifying for the up-coming 49 th National Championship.
For 2013, the Wildcard Tournament again featured six teams, that is, the six teams that finished fifth to tenth on the final Top League table for the 2012-13 season. In the first round, eighth placed NEC Green Rockets beat ninth placed NTT Communications Shining Arcs 38-14 and seventh placed Kintetsu Liners beat tenth placed Ricoh Black Rams 43-21. In the second round the following weekend, sixth placed Yamaha Jubilo beat Kintetsu 70-12 and fifth placed Toyota Verblitz beat NEC 41-23. The two winners from the second round in Yamaha and Toyota qualified for the National Championship as the Wildcard Qualifiers.
2013 (50th NC – 10 teams): Champions. As champion in TL Play-off, entered NC at SF stage. Beat Panasonic 26-13 in SF and Kobe 36-209 in final.
2012 (49th NC – 10 teams): Champions. As champion in TL Play-off, entered NC at SF stage. Beat Toshiba 23-8 in SF and Panasonic 21-9 in final.
2011 (48th NC – 10 teams): Champions. As runners-up in TL Play-off, entered NC at SF stage. Beat Kobe 37-33 in SF and Sanyo 37-20 in final.
2010 (47th NC – 10 teams): drew with NEC 10-all in the first round but lost on lottery ballot.
2009 (46th NC – 10 teams): Runners-up. Beat Kubota 62-17 in first round, beat Waseda University 59-20 in second round and then won by default in the semi-final after Toshiba withdrew from the Championship over a doping scandal involving wing Christian Loamanu. Lost to Sanyo 24-16 in final.
2008 (45th NC – 8 teams): Runners-up. Beat Toshiba 25-14 in SF. Lost to Sanyo 40-18 in final.
2007 (44th NC – 8 teams): Lost to Toyota 39-17 in semi-final.
2006 (43rd NC – 8 teams): DNQ as only top 4 TL teams qualified.
2005 (42nd NC – 8 teams): DNQ as only top 4 TL teams qualified.
2004 (41st NC – 22 teams): Knocked out by NEC 34-27.
Corporate Champions – 3 times (1996 (joint champions with Sanyo after final was drawn 27-all) 2002 and 2003); runners-up 3 times (1990, 1998 and 1999). The Corporate Championship started in 1949 and ended with the 55th Corporate Championship in 2003 as a consequence of the introduction of Top League as the national corporate league in the 2003-4 season.