October 27, 2026

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 5

Team Ratings for Round 5

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
Leicester Tigers 8.05 9.92 -1.90
Bath 7.08 9.66 -2.60
Northampton Saints 6.87 8.34 -1.50
Saracens 6.22 8.04 -1.80
Gloucester 3.69 -3.46 7.20
Exeter Chiefs 2.76 7.58 -4.80
Bristol 1.94 -0.11 2.10
Sale Sharks -4.26 -2.31 -2.00
Harlequins -4.46 -3.58 -0.90
Newcastle Red Bulls -19.17 -25.37 6.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 20 matches played, 14 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 70%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Gloucester vs. Bath Oct 24 23 – 5 1.10 TRUE
2 Newcastle Red Bulls vs. Sale Sharks Oct 24 17 – 3 -11.60 FALSE
3 Leicester Tigers vs. Northampton Saints Oct 25 28 – 7 5.90 TRUE
4 Bristol vs. Exeter Chiefs Oct 25 20 – 7 4.90 TRUE
5 Harlequins vs. Saracens Oct 26 33 – 15 -7.40 FALSE

 

Predictions for Round 5

Here are the predictions for Round 5. 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. Leicester Tigers Oct 31 Bristol 0.90
2 Exeter Chiefs vs. Harlequins Nov 01 Exeter Chiefs 14.20
3 Saracens vs. Newcastle Red Bulls Nov 01 Saracens 32.40
4 Bath vs. Sale Sharks Nov 01 Bath 18.30
5 Northampton Saints vs. Gloucester Nov 01 Northampton Saints 10.20

 

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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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