September 30, 2025

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 2

Team Ratings for Week 2

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 11.75 13.41 -1.70
Bulls 8.31 8.86 -0.60
Glasgow 6.64 6.18 0.50
Stormers 5.83 4.17 1.70
Munster 4.52 3.65 0.90
Edinburgh 2.07 2.67 -0.60
Sharks 0.83 1.29 -0.50
Connacht -1.05 -1.39 0.30
Scarlets -1.41 -0.54 -0.90
Ospreys -1.60 -2.15 0.50
Lions -1.69 -1.19 -0.50
Cardiff Rugby -2.23 -2.74 0.50
Benetton -2.66 -2.32 -0.30
Ulster -3.06 -3.24 0.20
Zebre -10.42 -11.02 0.60
Dragons -15.83 -15.66 -0.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 8 matches played, 5 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 62.5%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Stormers vs. Leinster Sept 27 35 – 0 -2.20 FALSE
2 Glasgow vs. Sharks Sept 27 35 – 19 11.90 TRUE
3 Ulster vs. Dragons Sept 27 42 – 21 19.40 TRUE
4 Bulls vs. Ospreys Sept 28 53 – 40 18.00 TRUE
5 Zebre vs. Edinburgh Sept 28 31 – 28 -6.70 FALSE
6 Scarlets vs. Munster Sept 28 21 – 34 2.80 FALSE
7 Cardiff Rugby vs. Lions Sept 28 33 – 20 5.50 TRUE
8 Connacht vs. Benetton Sept 28 26 – 15 7.90 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 2

Here are the predictions for Week 2. 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 Stormers vs. Ospreys Oct 04 Stormers 14.40
2 Dragons vs. Sharks Oct 04 Sharks -9.70
3 Edinburgh vs. Ulster Oct 04 Edinburgh 12.10
4 Connacht vs. Scarlets Oct 05 Connacht 7.40
5 Benetton vs. Glasgow Oct 05 Glasgow -2.30
6 Bulls vs. Leinster Oct 05 Bulls 3.60
7 Munster vs. Cardiff Rugby Oct 05 Munster 13.80
8 Zebre vs. Lions Oct 06 Lions -1.70

 

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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 »