October 14, 2025

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 4

Team Ratings for Week 4

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 11.78 13.41 -1.60
Bulls 7.54 8.86 -1.30
Stormers 7.53 4.17 3.40
Glasgow 7.23 6.18 1.00
Munster 3.36 3.65 -0.30
Edinburgh 2.58 2.67 -0.10
Sharks -0.29 1.29 -1.60
Connacht -1.00 -1.39 0.40
Benetton -1.18 -2.32 1.10
Ospreys -1.21 -2.15 0.90
Cardiff Rugby -1.63 -2.74 1.10
Ulster -1.80 -3.24 1.40
Scarlets -2.95 -0.54 -2.40
Lions -3.11 -1.19 -1.90
Zebre -10.57 -11.02 0.40
Dragons -16.29 -15.66 -0.60

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 22 matches played, 15 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 68.2%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Munster vs. Edinburgh Oct 11 20 – 19 8.80 TRUE
2 Scarlets vs. Stormers Oct 11 0 – 34 -0.40 TRUE
3 Benetton vs. Lions Oct 12 41 – 15 6.90 TRUE
4 Ospreys vs. Zebre Oct 12 24 – 0 15.20 TRUE
5 Glasgow vs. Dragons Oct 12 49 – 0 28.40 TRUE
6 Leinster vs. Sharks Oct 12 31 – 5 18.00 TRUE
7 Cardiff Rugby vs. Connacht Oct 12 14 – 8 6.50 TRUE
8 Ulster vs. Bulls Oct 12 28 – 7 -4.90 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 4

Here are the predictions for Week 4. 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 Connacht vs. Bulls Oct 18 Bulls -1.50
2 Dragons vs. Cardiff Rugby Oct 18 Cardiff Rugby -12.70
3 Edinburgh vs. Benetton Oct 18 Edinburgh 10.80
4 Lions vs. Scarlets Oct 19 Lions 6.80
5 Sharks vs. Ulster Oct 19 Sharks 8.50
6 Leinster vs. Munster Oct 19 Leinster 10.40
7 Ospreys vs. Glasgow Oct 19 Glasgow -1.40
8 Zebre vs. Stormers Oct 19 Stormers -11.10

 

avatar

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 »