Japan Rugby Top League 2021 News

After a hiatus of 11 months, Top League rugby returns when the Japan Rugby Top League 2021 season kicks off over the weekend of 16-17 January 2021. In the season opener, Toshiba Brave Lupus play NTT Communications Shining Arcs at the new National Stadium in Tokyo.

For the First Stage of competition, the 16 Top League sides are divided into two pools of eight teams, namely the Red Conference and the White Conference. Over seven rounds, each team will play the other teams in their conference in a round-robin format through until Saturday, 6 March 2021.

For the Second Stage of competition, the top four placed sides from the Japan Rugby Top Challenge League 2021, the division below Japan Rugby Top League, will join the 16 Top League teams. The 20 teams will be divided into four pools of five teams and play each team in their pool once in a round-robin format. This stage runs from Friday, 26 March to Sunday, 25 April 2020.

The top two placed teams from each pool will then play off to determine the overall season champion. The season culminates with the final at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Sunday, 23 May 2021.