October 5, 2021

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 3

Team Ratings for Week 3

The basic method is described on my Department home page.
Here are the team ratings prior to this week’s games, along with the ratings at the start of the season.

Current Rating Rating at Season Start Difference
Leinster 14.60 14.79 -0.20
Munster 11.20 10.69 0.50
Ulster 7.95 7.41 0.50
Glasgow 4.04 3.69 0.40
Edinburgh 2.24 2.90 -0.70
Connacht 2.14 1.72 0.40
Bulls 1.97 3.65 -1.70
Ospreys 0.91 0.94 -0.00
Cardiff Rugby 0.69 -0.11 0.80
Scarlets 0.51 -0.77 1.30
Stormers 0.01 0.00 0.00
Sharks -0.74 -0.07 -0.70
Lions -3.83 -3.91 0.10
Benetton -4.21 -4.50 0.30
Dragons -6.24 -6.92 0.70
Zebre -15.19 -13.47 -1.70

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 16 matches played, 15 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 93.8%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Connacht vs. Bulls Oct 02 34 – 7 4.50 TRUE
2 Scarlets vs. Lions Oct 02 36 – 13 9.40 TRUE
3 Benetton vs. Edinburgh Oct 02 28 – 27 -0.20 FALSE
4 Dragons vs. Leinster Oct 02 6 – 7 -15.90 TRUE
5 Glasgow vs. Sharks Oct 03 35 – 24 11.30 TRUE
6 Zebre vs. Ulster Oct 03 3 – 36 -14.80 TRUE
7 Munster vs. Stormers Oct 03 34 – 18 18.10 TRUE
8 Ospreys vs. Cardiff Rugby Oct 03 18 – 14 5.50 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 3

Here are the predictions for Week 3. The prediction is my estimated expected points difference with a positive margin being a win to the home team, and a negative margin a win to the away team.

Game Date Winner Prediction
1 Ospreys vs. Sharks Oct 09 Ospreys 8.10
2 Ulster vs. Benetton Oct 09 Ulster 18.70
3 Leinster vs. Zebre Oct 09 Leinster 36.30
4 Glasgow vs. Lions Oct 10 Glasgow 14.40
5 Connacht vs. Dragons Oct 10 Connacht 14.90
6 Edinburgh vs. Stormers Oct 10 Edinburgh 8.70
7 Cardiff Rugby vs. Bulls Oct 10 Cardiff Rugby 5.20
8 Scarlets vs. Munster Oct 10 Munster -4.20

 

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David Scott obtained a BA and PhD from the Australian National University and then commenced his university teaching career at La Trobe University in 1972. He has taught at La Trobe University, the University of Sheffield, Bond University and Colorado State University, joining the University of Auckland, based at Tamaki Campus, in mid-1995. He has been Head of Department at La Trobe University, Acting Dean and Associate Dean (Academic) at Bond University, and Associate Director of the Centre for Quality Management and Data Analysis at Bond University with responsibility for Short Courses. He was Head of the Department of Statistics in 2000, and is a past President of the New Zealand Statistical Assocation. See all posts by David Scott »