The name of the new league to replace the top league of rugby has been decided as "Japan Rugby League One", and it will start on January 7, next year.

The Japan Rugby Union has renewed the current top league and established a new league with the aim of improving the competitiveness of the Japanese national team and strengthening the domestic league, and on the 16th, the Japan Rugby Top League, which operates, announced the outline. ..



According to this, the new league will be named "Japan Rugby League One", and it will be a three-part system with 24 teams participating, with 12 teams in the top 1st division and 6 teams in the 2nd and 3rd divisions.



In addition, each team will decide the "host area" that will be the base when entering the new league, and will include the name of the city etc. in the team name.



Panasonic, which won the final top league in May, entered the first division, and the new team name was "Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights".



The first season will start on January 7, next year, and the first division will be divided into two conferences with six teams each.



Then, each team played 16 games in total, including teams with different conferences, and the ranking was decided by the points won.



The 1st and 2nd place teams are planning to play against overseas teams, and the bottom 3 teams will play a qualification match with the 2nd division league.



Shigetaka Mori, President of the Japan Rugby Top League, said, "The new league must coexist and co-prosper with the Japanese national team. It must be a league for the Japanese national team to become stronger. Even in the top league, the team with stronger Japanese players was strong. I want you to create such a team in the new league as well. "