March 3, 2026

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Delayed Games

Team Ratings for Delayed Games

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 9.16 13.41 -4.20
Bulls 8.56 8.86 -0.30
Glasgow 7.63 6.18 1.40
Stormers 5.72 4.17 1.60
Munster 1.90 3.65 -1.80
Edinburgh 1.22 2.67 -1.50
Lions 0.76 -1.19 2.00
Ulster 0.61 -3.24 3.80
Sharks -1.06 1.29 -2.30
Connacht -1.19 -1.39 0.20
Scarlets -1.82 -0.54 -1.30
Cardiff Rugby -2.00 -2.74 0.70
Ospreys -2.46 -2.15 -0.30
Benetton -4.94 -2.32 -2.60
Dragons -10.01 -15.66 5.60
Zebre -12.09 -11.02 -1.10

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 93 matches played, 61 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 65.6%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Cardiff Rugby vs. Leinster Feb 28 8 – 7 -5.60 FALSE
2 Edinburgh vs. Scarlets Feb 28 24 – 19 11.50 TRUE
3 Lions vs. Stormers Mar 01 24 – 10 -5.00 FALSE
4 Bulls vs. Sharks Mar 01 41 – 12 9.60 TRUE
5 Connacht vs. Glasgow Mar 01 15 – 10 -2.90 FALSE
6 Dragons vs. Benetton Mar 01 15 – 15 2.50 FALSE
7 Munster vs. Zebre Mar 01 21 – 7 22.00 TRUE
8 Ospreys vs. Ulster Mar 01 21 – 10 2.90 TRUE

 

Predictions for Delayed Games

Here are the predictions for Delayed Games. 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 Edinburgh vs. Ulster Mar 14 Edinburgh 7.60
2 Connacht vs. Scarlets Mar 14 Connacht 7.60
3 Bulls vs. Stormers Mar 15 Bulls 4.80

 

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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 »