The Japanese Top League Cup 2019 kicks off this weekend, with 23 club teams involved across 4 pools. The Cup is slightly overshadowed by the withdrawal of Toyota Verblitz following the arrest of their player for drug charges this week.
Top League Cup 2019 format
According to Rugby News Japan, the rugby teams are allowed to enter an unlimited number of foreign rugby players in the Top League Cup. In addition, due to the withdrawal of Toyota Verblitz, the team in their Pool C will automatically start with 5 points, each awarded a bye.
The winner of each pool advances to playoffs.
Toyota Verblitz dilemma
The Japanese Rugby Football Union and the Toyota Verblitz rugby club have faced a tough week. They have faced criticism for the club pulling out of the competition in light of the arrest Ryota Kabashima. He was only charged and has yet to face court for the alleged crime.
Top League Cup 2019 Pools
The pool matches are played until the end of July 2019 with the pool winners playing their semi-finals on the 4th August and the final will be contested on the 10th August. This is about 6 weeks before the Rugby World Cup 2019 commences in Japan.
Pool A
- Suntory
- Panasonic
- Honda
- Hino
- Kurita
- Shimizu Constructions
Pool B
- Yamaha
- NTT Com
- Toshiba
- Sanix
- NTT Docomo
- Kyuden
Pool C
- Toyota (Withdrawn)
- Kubota
- Canon
- Coca-Cola
- Mitsubishi Sagamihara
- Kamaishi
Pool D
- Kobe
- Ricoh
- NEC
- Toyota Ind.
- Kintetsu
- Mazda
All the fixtures and results can be found on the Top League website.
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