June 2, 2026

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 18

Team Ratings for Round 18

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 11.40 10.30 1.10
Leicester Tigers 10.19 5.55 4.60
Saracens 9.32 5.03 4.30
Northampton Saints 8.04 -1.47 9.50
Exeter Chiefs 5.14 -4.58 9.70
Bristol 1.26 3.66 -2.40
Sale Sharks -3.49 6.70 -10.20
Gloucester -3.60 4.13 -7.70
Harlequins -4.74 -3.02 -1.70
Newcastle Red Bulls -25.66 -18.45 -7.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 85 matches played, 59 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 69.4%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Bristol vs. Bath May 30 21 – 19 -4.40 FALSE
2 Newcastle Red Bulls vs. Sale Sharks May 31 45 – 42 -18.30 FALSE
3 Northampton Saints vs. Gloucester May 31 36 – 32 21.20 TRUE
4 Saracens vs. Harlequins May 31 26 – 12 22.40 TRUE
5 Leicester Tigers vs. Exeter Chiefs Jun 01 26 – 35 15.60 FALSE

 

Predictions for Round 18

Here are the predictions for Round 18. 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 Bath vs. Leicester Tigers Jun 07 Bath 8.20
2 Exeter Chiefs vs. Saracens Jun 07 Exeter Chiefs 2.80
3 Gloucester vs. Newcastle Red Bulls Jun 07 Gloucester 29.10
4 Harlequins vs. Northampton Saints Jun 07 Northampton Saints -5.80
5 Sale Sharks vs. Bristol Jun 07 Sale Sharks 2.20

 

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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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