December 2, 2025

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 7

Team Ratings for Week 7

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 9.51 13.41 -3.90
Stormers 9.49 4.17 5.30
Glasgow 7.18 6.18 1.00
Bulls 6.27 8.86 -2.60
Munster 3.53 3.65 -0.10
Edinburgh 3.32 2.67 0.60
Connacht 0.69 -1.39 2.10
Ulster -0.40 -3.24 2.80
Lions -0.82 -1.19 0.40
Cardiff Rugby -1.45 -2.74 1.30
Sharks -2.11 1.29 -3.40
Scarlets -2.15 -0.54 -1.60
Ospreys -2.35 -2.15 -0.20
Benetton -4.57 -2.32 -2.30
Zebre -11.57 -11.02 -0.60
Dragons -14.56 -15.66 1.10

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 46 matches played, 33 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 71.7%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Dragons vs. Leinster Nov 29 10 – 24 -17.90 TRUE
2 Ulster vs. Benetton Nov 29 47 – 13 8.70 TRUE
3 Bulls vs. Lions Nov 30 33 – 43 11.30 FALSE
4 Zebre vs. Cardiff Rugby Nov 30 14 – 29 -1.60 TRUE
5 Edinburgh vs. Ospreys Nov 30 19 – 17 14.10 TRUE
6 Munster vs. Stormers Nov 30 21 – 27 2.10 FALSE
7 Connacht vs. Sharks Nov 30 44 – 17 7.80 TRUE
8 Scarlets vs. Glasgow Nov 30 23 – 0 -5.00 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 7

Here are the predictions for Week 7. 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 Cardiff Rugby vs. Scarlets Dec 20 Cardiff Rugby 2.70
2 Leinster vs. Ulster Dec 20 Leinster 11.90
3 Stormers vs. Lions Dec 21 Stormers 12.30
4 Benetton vs. Zebre Dec 21 Benetton 9.00
5 Glasgow vs. Edinburgh Dec 21 Glasgow 5.90
6 Sharks vs. Bulls Dec 21 Bulls -6.40
7 Ospreys vs. Munster Dec 21 Ospreys 1.10
8 Dragons vs. Connacht Dec 21 Connacht -8.20

 

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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 »