United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 8
Team Ratings for Week 8
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 | 17.43 | 16.79 | 0.60 |
| Ulster | 10.22 | 9.27 | 1.00 |
| Bulls | 7.52 | 7.84 | -0.30 |
| Stormers | 7.40 | 7.14 | 0.30 |
| Munster | 7.04 | 9.78 | -2.70 |
| Sharks | 5.64 | 6.95 | -1.30 |
| Edinburgh | 5.52 | 3.58 | 1.90 |
| Glasgow | 0.39 | -0.00 | 0.40 |
| Connacht | 0.04 | -1.60 | 1.60 |
| Lions | -0.81 | -1.74 | 0.90 |
| Ospreys | -1.90 | -0.83 | -1.10 |
| Scarlets | -4.08 | -1.23 | -2.80 |
| Benetton | -5.42 | -3.68 | -1.70 |
| Cardiff Rugby | -6.20 | -7.42 | 1.20 |
| Dragons | -10.19 | -11.81 | 1.60 |
| Zebre | -16.57 | -16.99 | 0.40 |
Performance So Far
So far there have been 53 matches played, 40 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 75.5%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.
| Game | Date | Score | Prediction | Correct | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow vs. Benetton | Oct 29 | 37 – 0 | 8.20 | TRUE |
| 2 | Scarlets vs. Leinster | Oct 29 | 5 – 35 | -15.70 | TRUE |
| 3 | Lions vs. Stormers | Oct 30 | 22 – 31 | -3.00 | TRUE |
| 4 | Dragons vs. Zebre | Oct 30 | 47 – 7 | 8.70 | TRUE |
| 5 | Munster vs. Ulster | Oct 30 | 14 – 15 | 1.30 | FALSE |
| 6 | Ospreys vs. Connacht | Oct 30 | 19 – 22 | 3.90 | FALSE |
| 7 | Bulls vs. Sharks | Oct 31 | 40 – 27 | 5.00 | TRUE |
| 8 | Cardiff Rugby vs. Edinburgh | Oct 31 | 17 – 25 | -7.00 | TRUE |
Predictions for Week 8
Here are the predictions for Week 8. 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 | Stormers vs. Scarlets | Nov 26 | Stormers | 16.00 |
| 2 | Ulster vs. Zebre | Nov 26 | Ulster | 31.30 |
| 3 | Benetton vs. Edinburgh | Nov 26 | Edinburgh | -6.40 |
| 4 | Bulls vs. Ospreys | Nov 26 | Bulls | 13.90 |
| 5 | Leinster vs. Glasgow | Nov 27 | Leinster | 21.50 |
| 6 | Munster vs. Connacht | Nov 27 | Munster | 11.00 |
| 7 | Lions vs. Dragons | Nov 28 | Lions | 13.90 |
| 8 | Sharks vs. Cardiff Rugby | Nov 28 | Sharks | 16.30 |