The 2005–06 Top League was the third season of Japan's Top League, the highest-tier professional rugby union competition in the country. The season ran from October 2005 to January 2006 and featured twelve teams competing for the championship.
Overview The 2005–06 season continued the league's established format. Teams played a single round-robin regular season, after which the top four teams advanced to a playoff tournament, known as the Microsoft Cup, to determine the league champion. The bottom teams from the regular season competed in promotion/relegation playoffs against the top teams from the regional leagues (Top East, Top West, and Top Kyushu).
Participating Teams The twelve teams that competed in the 2005–06 Top League season were:
- Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
- Fukuoka Sanix Blues
- Kintetsu Liners
- Kobelco Steelers
- NEC Green Rockets
- Ricoh Black Rams
- Sanyo Wild Knights
- Secom Rugguts
- Toshiba Brave Lupus
- Toyota Verblitz
- Yamaha Jubilo
- World Fighting Bull
Regular Season The regular season consisted of each team playing every other team once. Points were awarded for wins, draws, and bonus points for scoring four or more tries or losing by seven points or fewer. The top four teams at the end of the regular season advanced to the Microsoft Cup semifinals.
Microsoft Cup (Playoffs) The Microsoft Cup was the playoff stage to determine the Top League champion.
- Semifinals:
- The 1st-placed team played the 4th-placed team.
- The 2nd-placed team played the 3rd-placed team.
- Final: The winners of the semifinals met in the championship final.
Final Standings & Champion Toshiba Brave Lupus emerged as the champions of the 2005–06 Top League season, defeating Yamaha Jubilo in the final of the Microsoft Cup. This marked their second consecutive Top League title.
Awards
- League MVP: Hirotoki Onozawa (Toshiba Brave Lupus)
- Top Scorer: Tatsuya Kikutani (Toyota Verblitz)
- Best XV: A "Best Fifteen" team was also selected, featuring prominent players from the season.
Promotion and Relegation At the conclusion of the season, a promotion/relegation playoff system was implemented:
- The bottom two teams from the Top League competed against the top teams from the three regional leagues (Top East League, Top West League, Top Kyushu League) for places in the following season's Top League.
- World Fighting Bull and Secom Rugguts were relegated from the Top League after losing their respective promotion/relegation playoffs. They were replaced by Kubota Spears and Suntory Sungoliath for the 2006–07 season.