May 19, 2026

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 17

Team Ratings for Round 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
Bath 12.04 10.30 1.70
Leicester Tigers 11.97 5.55 6.40
Saracens 10.00 5.03 5.00
Northampton Saints 9.34 -1.47 10.80
Exeter Chiefs 3.35 -4.58 7.90
Bristol 0.62 3.66 -3.00
Sale Sharks -1.92 6.70 -8.60
Gloucester -4.89 4.13 -9.00
Harlequins -5.42 -3.02 -2.40
Newcastle Red Bulls -27.23 -18.45 -8.80

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 80 matches played, 57 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 71.2%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Northampton Saints vs. Bristol May 16 94 – 33 8.70 TRUE
2 Bath vs. Newcastle Red Bulls May 17 69 – 12 44.30 TRUE
3 Harlequins vs. Exeter Chiefs May 17 41 – 24 -5.00 FALSE
4 Saracens vs. Gloucester May 17 30 – 14 23.00 TRUE
5 Sale Sharks vs. Leicester Tigers May 18 33 – 47 -5.50 TRUE

 

Predictions for Round 17

Here are the predictions for Round 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 Bristol vs. Bath May 30 Bath -4.40
2 Newcastle Red Bulls vs. Sale Sharks May 31 Sale Sharks -18.30
3 Northampton Saints vs. Gloucester May 31 Northampton Saints 21.20
4 Saracens vs. Harlequins May 31 Saracens 22.40
5 Leicester Tigers vs. Exeter Chiefs Jun 01 Leicester Tigers 15.60

 

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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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