September 30, 2026

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 2

Team Ratings for Week 2

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 11.39 12.13 -0.70
Bulls 10.80 10.00 0.80
Stormers 7.31 6.49 0.80
Glasgow 7.23 6.47 0.80
Sharks 2.88 2.16 0.70
Lions 2.21 1.48 0.70
Connacht 1.79 2.62 -0.80
Munster 0.49 1.25 -0.80
Cardiff Rugby -0.83 -1.63 0.80
Ulster -1.03 -0.32 -0.70
Edinburgh -1.84 -2.55 0.70
Ospreys -4.07 -3.35 -0.70
Scarlets -4.27 -3.47 -0.80
Benetton -7.74 -6.67 -1.10
Dragons -8.97 -10.04 1.10
Zebre -15.36 -14.56 -0.80

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 8 matches played, 2 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 25%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Benetton vs. Dragons Sept 26 19 – 19 8.90 FALSE
2 Connacht vs. Stormers Sept 26 15 – 29 1.60 FALSE
3 Ulster vs. Edinburgh Sept 26 29 – 34 7.70 FALSE
4 Lions vs. Leinster Sept 26 27 – 26 -5.10 FALSE
5 Sharks vs. Ospreys Sept 27 41 – 24 11.00 TRUE
6 Munster vs. Glasgow Sept 27 20 – 26 0.30 FALSE
7 Zebre vs. Bulls Sept 27 13 – 47 -19.10 TRUE
8 Scarlets vs. Cardiff Rugby Sept 27 15 – 21 0.70 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 2

Here are the predictions for Week 2. 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 Benetton vs. Connacht Oct 03 Connacht -4.00
2 Cardiff Rugby vs. Zebre Oct 03 Cardiff Rugby 20.00
3 Edinburgh vs. Stormers Oct 03 Stormers -3.60
4 Lions vs. Ospreys Oct 04 Lions 11.80
5 Dragons vs. Scarlets Oct 04 Scarlets -2.20
6 Sharks vs. Leinster Oct 04 Leinster -3.00
7 Glasgow vs. Ulster Oct 04 Glasgow 13.80
8 Munster vs. Bulls Oct 04 Bulls -4.80

 

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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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