October 13, 2026

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 4

Team Ratings for Week 4

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
Bulls 11.12 10.00 1.10
Leinster 11.09 12.13 -1.00
Glasgow 7.28 6.47 0.80
Stormers 7.08 6.49 0.60
Sharks 3.27 2.16 1.10
Munster 1.63 1.25 0.40
Lions 1.35 1.48 -0.10
Connacht 0.87 2.62 -1.70
Edinburgh 0.15 -2.55 2.70
Ulster -0.36 -0.32 -0.00
Cardiff Rugby -2.45 -1.63 -0.80
Ospreys -3.87 -3.35 -0.50
Scarlets -5.89 -3.47 -2.40
Benetton -6.76 -6.67 -0.10
Dragons -8.91 -10.04 1.10
Zebre -15.58 -14.56 -1.00

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 24 matches played, 12 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 50%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

 

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Dragons vs. Ospreys Oct 10 31 – 38 -1.10 TRUE
2 Glasgow vs. Connacht Oct 10 36 – 19 10.30 TRUE
3 Bulls vs. Lions Oct 11 57 – 15 9.50 TRUE
4 Stormers vs. Sharks Oct 11 39 – 22 4.90 TRUE
5 Zebre vs. Edinburgh Oct 11 12 – 29 -8.10 TRUE
6 Scarlets vs. Benetton Oct 11 27 – 26 8.10 TRUE
7 Ulster vs. Munster Oct 11 26 – 26 0.70 FALSE
8 Leinster vs. Cardiff Rugby Oct 11 29 – 5 17.50 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 4

Here are the predictions for Week 4. 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 Cardiff Rugby vs. Sharks Oct 24 Sharks -0.20
2 Connacht vs. Zebre Oct 24 Connacht 21.90
3 Edinburgh vs. Lions Oct 24 Edinburgh 4.30
4 Bulls vs. Ulster Oct 25 Bulls 17.00
5 Benetton vs. Glasgow Oct 25 Glasgow -8.50
6 Stormers vs. Scarlets Oct 25 Stormers 18.50
7 Leinster vs. Munster Oct 25 Leinster 12.00
8 Ospreys vs. Dragons Oct 25 Ospreys 7.50

 

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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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