March 24, 2026

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 12

Team Ratings for Round 12

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
Bath 12.53 10.30 2.20
Leicester Tigers 7.07 5.55 1.50
Saracens 5.79 5.03 0.80
Northampton Saints 4.64 -1.47 6.10
Bristol 4.38 3.66 0.70
Exeter Chiefs 4.11 -4.58 8.70
Sale Sharks 2.56 6.70 -4.10
Gloucester -3.38 4.13 -7.50
Harlequins -10.68 -3.02 -7.70
Newcastle Red Bulls -19.17 -18.45 -0.70

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 55 matches played, 41 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 74.5%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Bath vs. Saracens Mar 21 62 – 15 8.40 TRUE
2 Exeter Chiefs vs. Sale Sharks Mar 22 26 – 14 7.70 TRUE
3 Harlequins vs. Gloucester Mar 22 19 – 26 1.00 FALSE
4 Northampton Saints vs. Newcastle Red Bulls Mar 22 28 – 27 35.70 TRUE
5 Leicester Tigers vs. Bristol Mar 23 33 – 19 8.60 TRUE

 

Predictions for Round 12

Here are the predictions for Round 12. 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 Gloucester vs. Leicester Tigers Mar 29 Leicester Tigers -3.40
2 Bristol vs. Harlequins Mar 29 Bristol 22.10
3 Newcastle Red Bulls vs. Exeter Chiefs Mar 29 Exeter Chiefs -16.30
4 Sale Sharks vs. Bath Mar 29 Bath -3.00
5 Saracens vs. Northampton Saints Mar 29 Saracens 8.10

 

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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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