Panasonic Wild Knights Top League Profile 2013-14
Top League Profiles 2013-14
(3) Panasonic Wild Knights
http://panasonic.co.jp/sanyo/social/rugby/
2013-14 Introduction : Last season (2012-13) Panasonic finished third on the final Top League table but lost to Toshiba in the Top League Play-off semi-finals and Toshiba at the same stage of the National Championship but form over recent seasons firmly suggests that Panasonic will again be right up there at the business end of the season again this year.
Central figures for Panasonic in the coming season include hooker and new captain Shota Horie, lock Daniel Heenan, No8 Koliniasi Ryu Holani, halfback Fumiaki Tanaka, centre Seiichi Shimomura and ace goal kicking fullback Atsushi Tanabe. In the backs, Berrick Barnes and JP Pietersen join the Knights and their influence should be strongly felt this season. Norifumi Nakajima continues in the coaching role this season and he is in charge of a solid and stable squad that prides itself on its resolute defence while the attack is also one of the best in the league.
Established : Sanyo Rugby was established in 1960 and they entered the Kanto Company League in 1963 in Division 4. Throughout the 1960s Sanyo worked their way up through the divisions to Division 1 in 1968. Over the subsequent few decades Sanyo were runners-up in the Corporate Championship a remarkable 8 times, while only taking the title once, in 1996 (Albeit shared with Suntory when the final was a 27-all draw). Higher success eluded the club until they won National Championship titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Sanyo jumped from seventh on the table in the first two years of TL to second in 2005-6 and were unlucky not to take the title. In 2006-7, Sanyo fell off the pace to finish just outside the final four in fifth place. In 2007-8 Sanyo topped the TL table undefeated but lost to Suntory in the Microsoft Cup final before winning the 2008 National Championship. 2008-9 was a similar story with Sanyo finishing second on the table before losing the Microsoft Cup final to Toshiba and then winning the 2009 National Championship. It was more of the same in 2009-10 when Sanyo topped the table but lost to Toshiba in the play-off final before winning the 2010 National Championship final for the third year in a row. It finally happened for Sanyo in the 2010-11 season when they took the Top League title for the first time.
Sanyo rugby are based in Ota city in Gunma prefecture with the superb ground, clubhouse and facilities developed over the late nineties. In 2009 the Sanyo company was acquired by Panasonic and from the 2011-12 season the team became known as the Panasonic Wild Knights.
The Company : Electrical and electronics maker.
Titles :
Top League – once (2010-11); runners-up 5 times (2011-12, 2009-10, 2008-9, 2007-8 and 2005-6).
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): Third on table on 49 points with 10 wins and 3 losses. Lost to Toshiba 20-8 in Play-off semi-final.
2011-12 (14 teams): Runners-up. 3rd on table on 53 points with 11 wins and 2 losses. Beat Toshiba 37-25 in Play-off semi-final and lost to Suntory 47-28 in final.
2010-11 (14 teams): Champions. second on table on 55 points with 11 wins & 2 losses. Defeated Toyota 32-10 in Play-off SF and Suntory 28-23 in the final.
2009-10 (14 teams): Runners-up. first on table on 59 points with 12 wins & 1 draw. Defeated Toyota 25-21 in Play-off SF and lost to Toshiba 6-0 in the final.
2008-9 (14 teams): Runners-up. 2nd on table on 58 points with 12 wins & 1 loss. (See 2009 Microsoft Cup below for further details)
2007-8 (14 teams): Runners-up. 1st on table on 64 points with 13 straight wins. (See 2008 Microsoft Cup below for further details)
2006-7 (14 teams): 5th on table on 43 points with 8 wins and 5 losses.
2005-6 (12 teams): Runners-up. 2nd on table on 42 points with 9 wins and 2 losses.
2004-5 (12 teams): 7th on table on 24 points with 4 wins and 7 losses.
2003-4 (12 teams): 7th on table on 24 points with 4 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses.
Microsoft Cup – (as a standalone Cup 2004-2006) none.
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 : Runners-up. Beat Suntory 32-22 in semi-final, then lost to Toshiba 17-6 in the final.
2008 : Runners-up. Beat Toshiba 25-21 in semi-final, then lost to Suntory 14-10 in the final.
2007 : DNQ.
2006 : Surprise defeat by Kubota 40-24 in first round.
2005 : Lost to Toyota in first round 41-21.
2004 : Beat Kubota 39-31 in first round only to lose 36-34 to Toshiba in semi-final.
National Championship – three times (2010, 2009 and 2008); runners-up twice (2012 and 2011).
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): Beat Yamaha 56-14 in R1, beat Teikyo University 54-21 in R2 and lost to Suntory 26-13 in semi-final.
2012 (49th NC – 10 teams): Runners-up. As runners-up in TL Play-off, entered NC at SF stage. Beat NEC 41-3 in SF and lost to Suntory 21-9 in final.
2011 (48th NC – 10 teams): Runners-up. As Champion in TL Play-off, entered NC at SF stage. Beat Toshiba 33-21 in SF, lost to Suntory 37-20 in final.
2010 (47th NC – 10 teams): Champions. Beat NEC 25-16 in semi-finals then beat Toyota 22-17 in the final.
2009 (46th NC – 10 teams): Champions. Beat Ricoh 59-3 in semi-finals then beat Suntory 24-16 in the final.
2008 (45th NC – 8 teams): Champions. Beat Toyota 25-24 in semi-finals then beat Suntory 40-18 in the final.
2007 (44th NC – 8 teams): DNQ.
2006 (43rd NC – 8 teams): Came in as second seed but knocked out by NEC 24-16 in the first round.
2005 (42nd NC – 8 teams): DNQ.
2004 (41st NC – 22 teams): Knocked out by Toyota 44-14 in the early rounds.
Corporate Championship – once (1996 – joint premiers with Suntory after final tied at 27-all); runners-up 8 times (1997, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1981, 1980, 1978 and 1976). 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.