October 27, 2026

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 5

Team Ratings for Week 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
Leinster 10.37 12.13 -1.80
Bulls 10.04 10.00 0.00
Glasgow 6.73 6.47 0.30
Stormers 6.30 6.49 -0.20
Sharks 4.06 2.16 1.90
Munster 2.35 1.25 1.10
Edinburgh 1.01 -2.55 3.60
Connacht 0.75 2.62 -1.90
Ulster 0.72 -0.32 1.00
Lions 0.49 1.48 -1.00
Ospreys -2.74 -3.35 0.60
Cardiff Rugby -3.24 -1.63 -1.60
Scarlets -5.11 -3.47 -1.60
Benetton -6.22 -6.67 0.50
Dragons -10.04 -10.04 -0.00
Zebre -15.47 -14.56 -0.90

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 32 matches played, 20 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 62.5%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Cardiff Rugby vs. Sharks Oct 24 21 – 36 -0.20 TRUE
2 Connacht vs. Zebre Oct 24 48 – 27 21.90 TRUE
3 Edinburgh vs. Lions Oct 24 31 – 10 4.30 TRUE
4 Bulls vs. Ulster Oct 25 34 – 26 17.00 TRUE
5 Benetton vs. Glasgow Oct 25 20 – 24 -8.50 TRUE
6 Stormers vs. Scarlets Oct 25 52 – 40 18.50 TRUE
7 Leinster vs. Munster Oct 25 24 – 18 12.00 TRUE
8 Ospreys vs. Dragons Oct 25 31 – 14 7.50 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 5

Here are the predictions for Week 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 Connacht vs. Leinster Oct 31 Leinster -7.10
2 Glasgow vs. Lions Oct 31 Glasgow 11.70
3 Stormers vs. Ulster Nov 01 Stormers 11.10
4 Benetton vs. Edinburgh Nov 01 Edinburgh -1.70
5 Bulls vs. Scarlets Nov 01 Bulls 20.70
6 Dragons vs. Zebre Nov 01 Dragons 10.90
7 Munster vs. Sharks Nov 01 Munster 3.80
8 Ospreys vs. Cardiff Rugby Nov 01 Ospreys 3.00

 

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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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