October 5, 2026

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 3

Team Ratings for Round 3

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 9.78 9.66 0.10
Leicester Tigers 7.46 9.92 -2.50
Saracens 7.20 8.04 -0.80
Northampton Saints 6.59 8.34 -1.80
Exeter Chiefs 5.53 7.58 -2.10
Bristol 2.14 -0.11 2.30
Gloucester 1.85 -3.46 5.30
Sale Sharks -1.74 -2.31 0.60
Harlequins -6.96 -3.58 -3.40
Newcastle Red Bulls -23.14 -25.37 2.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 10 matches played, 6 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 60%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Bath vs. Exeter Chiefs Oct 03 40 – 34 12.60 TRUE
2 Bristol vs. Northampton Saints Oct 04 41 – 26 0.30 TRUE
3 Gloucester vs. Harlequins Oct 04 48 – 0 10.60 TRUE
4 Newcastle Red Bulls vs. Leicester Tigers Oct 04 19 – 24 -26.80 TRUE
5 Saracens vs. Sale Sharks Oct 05 17 – 21 19.30 FALSE

 

Predictions for Round 3

Here are the predictions for Round 3. 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 Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester Oct 10 Leicester Tigers 12.60
2 Northampton Saints vs. Bath Oct 11 Northampton Saints 3.80
3 Saracens vs. Bristol Oct 11 Saracens 12.10
4 Exeter Chiefs vs. Newcastle Red Bulls Oct 12 Exeter Chiefs 35.70
5 Sale Sharks vs. Harlequins Oct 12 Sale Sharks 12.20

 

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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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