February 17, 2026

Super Rugby 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
Chiefs 12.63 12.36 0.30
Blues 8.63 8.91 -0.30
Hurricanes 8.29 8.29 -0.00
Crusaders 8.03 8.41 -0.40
Brumbies 6.51 5.59 0.90
Reds 0.77 1.74 -1.00
Highlanders -2.67 -3.06 0.40
Waratahs -4.88 -5.84 1.00
Moana Pasifika -7.18 -7.88 0.70
Western Force -7.21 -6.29 -0.90
Fijian Drua -8.34 -7.64 -0.70

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 5 matches played, 1 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 20%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Highlanders vs. Crusaders Feb 13 25 – 23 -6.50 FALSE
2 Waratahs vs. Reds Feb 13 36 – 12 -2.60 FALSE
3 Fijian Drua vs. Moana Pasifika Feb 14 26 – 40 3.70 FALSE
4 Blues vs. Chiefs Feb 14 15 – 19 1.60 FALSE
5 Western Force vs. Brumbies Feb 14 24 – 56 -6.90 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 Hurricanes vs. Moana Pasifika Feb 20 Hurricanes 20.50
2 Waratahs vs. Fijian Drua Feb 20 Waratahs 8.50
3 Highlanders vs. Chiefs Feb 21 Chiefs -10.30
4 Western Force vs. Blues Feb 21 Blues -12.30
5 Crusaders vs. Brumbies Feb 22 Crusaders 5.00

 

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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 »

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