For the
Pool stage, the 16 teams were placed into 2 pools of 8 teams each and a
round-robin tournament was played within each of the pools. Then, for the
Group stage, the top 4 teams from each pool went through to Group 1, and the bottom 4 teams from each pool went through to Group 2. The teams were given starting points based on where they finished in their pool. - i.e. starting points of 4, 3, 2, and 1, for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively; and starting points of 4, 3, 2, and 1, for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively. Another round-robin was played for each of the groups. The Top League teams in Group 1 ranked 1st to 4th qualified for the
title play-offs to fight for the
Microsoft Cup and the Top League title. The top 4 also qualified directly into the
All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. The teams in Group 1 ranked 5th to 8th, and teams in Group 2 ranked 1st to 4th went through to the
wildcard play-offs for qualification into the
All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. The teams in Group 2 ranked 5th to 7th went through to the
promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers to fight to remain in the Top League. The team in Group 2 ranked 8th was automatically relegated to the regional leagues for 2014–15.
Table Group stage tables Pool stage tables Pool stage Group stage Round 1 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Round 2 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Round 3 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Round 4 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Round 5 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Round 6 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Round 7 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- == Title play-offs==