December 28, 2023

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 9

Team Ratings for Week 9

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 12.06 10.73 1.30
Bulls 10.75 9.00 1.80
Munster 9.42 10.54 -1.10
Stormers 7.17 8.93 -1.80
Glasgow 6.76 4.19 2.60
Ulster 4.49 7.80 -3.30
Connacht 2.81 3.17 -0.40
Lions 0.26 -4.26 4.50
Edinburgh -0.14 -2.26 2.10
Sharks -0.89 0.85 -1.70
Benetton -3.02 -5.12 2.10
Cardiff Rugby -3.70 -5.16 1.50
Ospreys -5.05 -7.79 2.70
Scarlets -9.54 -2.23 -7.30
Dragons -14.69 -8.14 -6.60
Zebre -16.69 -20.25 3.60

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 63 matches played, 42 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 66.7%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Glasgow vs. Edinburgh Dec 23 22 – 10 8.10 TRUE
2 Ulster vs. Connacht Dec 23 20 – 19 4.30 TRUE
3 Zebre vs. Benetton Dec 23 24 – 31 -12.80 TRUE
4 Stormers vs. Bulls Dec 24 26 – 20 -3.00 FALSE
5 Cardiff Rugby vs. Dragons Dec 27 55 – 21 9.40 TRUE
6 Scarlets vs. Ospreys Dec 27 11 – 25 -0.40 TRUE
7 Munster vs. Leinster Dec 27 3 – 9 0.70 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 9

Here are the predictions for Week 9. 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 Benetton vs. Zebre Dec 30 Benetton 15.70
2 Bulls vs. Lions Dec 31 Bulls 12.50
3 Edinburgh vs. Glasgow Dec 31 Glasgow -4.90
4 Stormers vs. Sharks Dec 31 Stormers 10.10
5 Connacht vs. Munster Jan 01 Munster -4.60
6 Ospreys vs. Cardiff Rugby Jan 02 Ospreys 0.60
7 Dragons vs. Scarlets Jan 02 Scarlets -3.10
8 Leinster vs. Ulster Jan 02 Leinster 9.60

 

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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 »