October 5, 2026

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 3

Team Ratings for Week 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
Leinster 10.31 12.13 -1.80
Bulls 9.74 10.00 -0.30
Glasgow 6.48 6.47 0.00
Stormers 6.39 6.49 -0.10
Sharks 3.96 2.16 1.80
Lions 2.72 1.48 1.20
Connacht 1.67 2.62 -0.90
Munster 1.55 1.25 0.30
Ulster -0.28 -0.32 0.00
Edinburgh -0.92 -2.55 1.60
Cardiff Rugby -1.67 -1.63 -0.00
Ospreys -4.58 -3.35 -1.20
Scarlets -5.04 -3.47 -1.60
Benetton -7.61 -6.67 -0.90
Dragons -8.20 -10.04 1.80
Zebre -14.51 -14.56 0.00

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 16 matches played, 5 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 31.2%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Benetton vs. Connacht Oct 03 19 – 22 -4.00 TRUE
2 Cardiff Rugby vs. Zebre Oct 03 40 – 27 20.00 TRUE
3 Edinburgh vs. Stormers Oct 03 17 – 13 -3.60 FALSE
4 Lions vs. Ospreys Oct 04 35 – 19 11.80 TRUE
5 Dragons vs. Scarlets Oct 04 38 – 26 -2.20 FALSE
6 Sharks vs. Leinster Oct 04 26 – 20 -3.00 FALSE
7 Glasgow vs. Ulster Oct 04 33 – 33 13.80 FALSE
8 Munster vs. Bulls Oct 04 26 – 22 -4.80 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 3

Here are the predictions for Week 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 Dragons vs. Ospreys Oct 10 Ospreys -1.10
2 Glasgow vs. Connacht Oct 10 Glasgow 10.30
3 Bulls vs. Lions Oct 11 Bulls 9.50
4 Stormers vs. Sharks Oct 11 Stormers 4.90
5 Zebre vs. Edinburgh Oct 11 Edinburgh -8.10
6 Scarlets vs. Benetton Oct 11 Scarlets 8.10
7 Ulster vs. Munster Oct 11 Ulster 0.70
8 Leinster vs. Cardiff Rugby Oct 11 Leinster 17.50

 

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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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