April 28, 2026

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 17

Team Ratings for Week 17

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
Bulls 8.87 8.86 0.00
Leinster 8.00 13.41 -5.40
Stormers 6.62 4.17 2.50
Glasgow 5.37 6.18 -0.80
Lions 3.93 -1.19 5.10
Munster 3.51 3.65 -0.10
Connacht 0.65 -1.39 2.00
Ulster 0.27 -3.24 3.50
Sharks 0.10 1.29 -1.20
Cardiff Rugby -1.69 -2.74 1.00
Scarlets -2.47 -0.54 -1.90
Ospreys -2.65 -2.15 -0.50
Edinburgh -2.82 2.67 -5.50
Benetton -5.38 -2.32 -3.10
Dragons -9.62 -15.66 6.00
Zebre -12.71 -11.02 -1.70

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 128 matches played, 88 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 68.8%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Cardiff Rugby vs. Ospreys Apr 25 24 – 21 2.90 TRUE
2 Edinburgh vs. Sharks Apr 25 33 – 28 3.80 TRUE
3 Zebre vs. Dragons Apr 25 18 – 19 5.30 FALSE
4 Stormers vs. Glasgow Apr 25 48 – 12 5.40 TRUE
5 Lions vs. Connacht Apr 26 33 – 21 9.80 TRUE
6 Munster vs. Ulster Apr 26 41 – 14 2.80 TRUE
7 Benetton vs. Leinster Apr 26 29 – 26 -7.70 FALSE
8 Scarlets vs. Bulls Apr 26 21 – 23 -5.00 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 17

Here are the predictions for Week 17. 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 Glasgow vs. Cardiff Rugby May 09 Glasgow 14.10
2 Ulster vs. Stormers May 09 Ulster 0.70
3 Bulls vs. Zebre May 09 Bulls 28.60
4 Sharks vs. Benetton May 10 Sharks 12.50
5 Leinster vs. Lions May 10 Leinster 11.10
6 Ospreys vs. Scarlets May 10 Ospreys 1.80
7 Connacht vs. Munster May 10 Munster -0.90
8 Dragons vs. Edinburgh May 10 Dragons 0.20

 

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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 »

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