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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulls | 10.92 | 9.00 | 1.90 |
| Munster | 10.48 | 10.54 | -0.10 |
| Leinster | 9.21 | 10.73 | -1.50 |
| Stormers | 8.19 | 8.93 | -0.70 |
| Ulster | 6.31 | 7.80 | -1.50 |
| Glasgow | 5.71 | 4.19 | 1.50 |
| Connacht | 2.47 | 3.17 | -0.70 |
| Sharks | 0.92 | 0.85 | 0.10 |
| Edinburgh | -1.95 | -2.26 | 0.30 |
| Lions | -3.53 | -4.26 | 0.70 |
| Scarlets | -4.16 | -2.23 | -1.90 |
| Benetton | -4.62 | -5.12 | 0.50 |
| Cardiff Rugby | -5.66 | -5.16 | -0.50 |
| Ospreys | -7.10 | -7.79 | 0.70 |
| Dragons | -8.45 | -8.14 | -0.30 |
| Zebre | -18.76 | -20.25 | 1.50 |
Performance So Far
So far there have been 8 matches played, 6 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 75%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.
| Game | Date | Score | Prediction | Correct | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zebre vs. Ulster | Oct 21 | 36 – 40 | -24.00 | TRUE |
| 2 | Connacht vs. Ospreys | Oct 22 | 34 – 26 | 15.00 | TRUE |
| 3 | Dragons vs. Edinburgh | Oct 22 | 17 – 22 | -1.90 | TRUE |
| 4 | Lions vs. Stormers | Oct 22 | 33 – 35 | -11.20 | TRUE |
| 5 | Cardiff Rugby vs. Benetton | Oct 22 | 22 – 23 | 4.00 | FALSE |
| 6 | Munster vs. Sharks | Oct 22 | 34 – 21 | 13.70 | TRUE |
| 7 | Bulls vs. Scarlets | Oct 22 | 63 – 21 | 15.20 | TRUE |
| 8 | Glasgow vs. Leinster | Oct 23 | 43 – 25 | -2.50 | 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 | Ospreys vs. Zebre | Oct 28 | Ospreys | 15.70 |
| 2 | Connacht vs. Glasgow | Oct 29 | Connacht | 0.80 |
| 3 | Stormers vs. Scarlets | Oct 29 | Stormers | 16.30 |
| 4 | Leinster vs. Sharks | Oct 29 | Leinster | 12.30 |
| 5 | Edinburgh vs. Lions | Oct 29 | Edinburgh | 5.60 |
| 6 | Benetton vs. Munster | Oct 30 | Munster | -11.10 |
| 7 | Dragons vs. Cardiff Rugby | Oct 30 | Cardiff Rugby | -0.80 |
| 8 | Ulster vs. Bulls | Oct 30 | Bulls | -0.60 |