December 28, 2022

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 14

Team Ratings for Round 14

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
Leicester Tigers 5.36 7.93 -2.60
Sale Sharks 3.66 4.14 -0.50
Harlequins 3.09 3.92 -0.80
Gloucester 3.00 5.92 -2.90
Exeter Chiefs 2.24 3.67 -1.40
Northampton Saints 1.32 3.99 -2.70
Saracens 0.75 -5.00 5.80
London Irish 0.21 -1.65 1.90
Wasps -0.18 0.77 -1.00
Bristol -3.19 -2.43 -0.80
Bath -5.80 -9.15 3.30
Newcastle Falcons -7.69 -8.76 1.10
Worcester Warriors -11.69 -12.27 0.60

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 62 matches played, 40 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 64.5%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 London Irish vs. Saracens Dec 24 29 – 20 3.30 TRUE
2 Newcastle Falcons vs. Sale Sharks Dec 24 20 – 14 -8.40 FALSE
3 Exeter Chiefs vs. Bath Dec 25 20 – 15 13.50 TRUE
4 Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester Dec 25 28 – 13 5.80 TRUE
5 Harlequins vs. Bristol Dec 28 12 – 15 12.40 FALSE

 

Predictions for Round 14

Here are the predictions for Round 14. 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 Sale Sharks vs. Leicester Tigers Dec 31 Sale Sharks 2.80
2 Bath vs. Newcastle Falcons Jan 01 Bath 6.40
3 Saracens vs. Exeter Chiefs Jan 01 Saracens 3.00
4 Gloucester vs. London Irish Jan 01 Gloucester 7.30
5 Northampton Saints vs. Harlequins Jan 02 Northampton Saints 2.70

 

December 27, 2022

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 11

Team Ratings for Week 11

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 17.20 16.79 0.40
Ulster 9.73 9.27 0.50
Bulls 8.20 7.84 0.40
Munster 8.07 9.78 -1.70
Stormers 7.30 7.14 0.20
Sharks 5.23 6.95 -1.70
Edinburgh 3.44 3.58 -0.10
Connacht 1.23 -1.60 2.80
Glasgow 1.04 -0.00 1.00
Lions -1.65 -1.74 0.10
Ospreys -2.00 -0.83 -1.20
Benetton -4.54 -3.68 -0.90
Cardiff Rugby -4.87 -7.42 2.60
Scarlets -5.30 -1.23 -4.10
Dragons -9.52 -11.81 2.30
Zebre -17.52 -16.99 -0.50

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 77 matches played, 60 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 77.9%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Sharks vs. Lions Dec 24 37 – 10 9.40 TRUE
2 Stormers vs. Bulls Dec 24 37 – 27 2.30 TRUE
3 Connacht vs. Ulster Dec 24 20 – 22 -5.10 TRUE
4 Glasgow vs. Edinburgh Dec 24 16 – 10 0.50 TRUE
5 Benetton vs. Zebre Dec 25 38 – 5 15.50 TRUE
6 Dragons vs. Cardiff Rugby Dec 27 24 – 29 0.40 FALSE
7 Ospreys vs. Scarlets Dec 27 34 – 14 6.00 TRUE
8 Munster vs. Leinster Dec 27 19 – 20 -6.20 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 11

Here are the predictions for Week 11. 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 Edinburgh vs. Glasgow Dec 31 Edinburgh 6.40
2 Zebre vs. Benetton Dec 31 Benetton -9.00
3 Sharks vs. Bulls Jan 01 Sharks 1.00
4 Stormers vs. Lions Jan 01 Stormers 12.90
5 Cardiff Rugby vs. Ospreys Jan 02 Cardiff Rugby 1.10
6 Scarlets vs. Dragons Jan 02 Scarlets 8.20
7 Ulster vs. Munster Jan 02 Ulster 5.70
8 Leinster vs. Connacht Jan 02 Leinster 20.00

 

Top 14 Predictions for Round 14

Team Ratings for Round 14

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
Stade Toulousain 7.65 6.34 1.30
La Rochelle 5.96 6.88 -0.90
Montpellier 5.04 4.18 0.90
Racing 92 4.64 4.86 -0.20
Toulon 4.11 4.09 0.00
Bordeaux Begles 4.00 5.27 -1.30
Stade Francais 3.55 -1.05 4.60
Clermont 2.35 4.05 -1.70
Castres Olympique 1.86 2.87 -1.00
Lyon 1.61 3.10 -1.50
Section Paloise -0.78 -2.12 1.30
Aviron Bayonnais -1.71 -4.26 2.50
USA Perpignan -4.94 -2.75 -2.20
Brive -6.08 -4.20 -1.90

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 91 matches played, 65 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 71.4%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Toulon vs. Lyon Dec 23 21 – 3 8.00 TRUE
2 Brive vs. Clermont Dec 24 20 – 16 -2.60 FALSE
3 La Rochelle vs. Bordeaux Begles Dec 24 8 – 12 9.40 FALSE
4 Montpellier vs. USA Perpignan Dec 24 38 – 10 15.60 TRUE
5 Section Paloise vs. Aviron Bayonnais Dec 24 22 – 22 8.30 FALSE
6 Stade Toulousain vs. Castres Olympique Dec 24 22 – 18 13.20 TRUE
7 Racing 92 vs. Stade Francais Dec 25 10 – 48 10.30 FALSE

 

Predictions for Round 14

Here are the predictions for Round 14. 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 Bordeaux Begles vs. Montpellier Dec 31 Bordeaux Begles 5.50
2 Aviron Bayonnais vs. Toulon Jan 01 Aviron Bayonnais 0.70
3 Castres Olympique vs. Racing 92 Jan 01 Castres Olympique 3.70
4 Lyon vs. Brive Jan 01 Lyon 14.20
5 Stade Francais vs. Section Paloise Jan 01 Stade Francais 10.80
6 USA Perpignan vs. La Rochelle Jan 01 La Rochelle -4.40
7 Clermont vs. Stade Toulousain Jan 02 Clermont 1.20

 

December 7, 2022

Good reporting of numbers

Stuff has a new fact-check column, “The Whole Truth”, and there’s a good example with discussion of youth crime trends, by James Halpin.

The graphs are just the sort of thing I use and recommend: enough history and (where appropriate) enough context to see what trends are just continuing and where things might have changed

It’s clear that the orange line in the left panel is different from basically everything else.  It looks as though the blue line might be going up, but it’s clearly still lower than it was in recent years.

That is, one category of crime in one age group is up.  Overall, robberies and burglaries, even those specifically committed by young people, aren’t increasing, but these vehicle crimes are.  They go on to say that ram-raids by young people are up; the absolute numbers are small, but these are serious crimes, with damage out of proportion to the amount stolen. It’s unlikely to be reporting bias — again, these are serious crimes that would usually be reported.

The data can’t really support a general ‘kids today’ narrative, but there is a real, specific, problem.

December 6, 2022

Briefly

  • I’ve often complained about misleading bar graphs in reporting electoral opinion polls. 1News just punted on the whole issue with this:
  • The cost of the Meola Road rebuild, $47.5 million, has been inaccurately portrayed as the cost of the bike lane that’s a minor component of it. Twitter user @ArcCyclist got the actual breakdown from the Council:

    While I’m at it, I do want to note one way it’s a bad table: the cycleway number is given to whole dollars, with everything else given in cents, so it looks even smaller than it really is. You usually don’t want to delete trailing zeroes in a table.
  • The ESR Covid wastewater dashboard is now at poops.nz. Yes, really.
  • There’s a new “technical report for future UK Chief Medical Officers, Government Chief Scientific Advisers, National Medical Directors and public health leaders in a pandemic” from the UK. Even if you aren’t among that exalted company, some of the information may be useful to public citizens as well
  • The Ministry of Health is seeking public comment on something it wrote about ‘precision health’. There might be StatsChat readers who have reckons.
  • Eric Crampton notes that cost-benefit ratios for transport projects are defined in an idiosyncratic way that makes them hard to compare either with each other or with non-transport projects.
  • The first drug to convincingly delay Type I diabetes onset has been approved. The average benefit is about two years, and the treatment will be marketed at US$200,000.  Cost-effectiveness research suggests this is way more than it’s worth for most people, even in the US where insulin for Type I diabetes is very expensive.

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 10

Team Ratings for Week 10

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 17.71 16.79 0.90
Ulster 10.04 9.27 0.80
Bulls 8.62 7.84 0.80
Munster 7.56 9.78 -2.20
Stormers 6.88 7.14 -0.30
Sharks 4.49 6.95 -2.50
Edinburgh 3.99 3.58 0.40
Connacht 0.92 -1.60 2.50
Glasgow 0.49 -0.00 0.50
Lions -0.91 -1.74 0.80
Ospreys -2.63 -0.83 -1.80
Scarlets -4.67 -1.23 -3.40
Benetton -5.28 -3.68 -1.60
Cardiff Rugby -5.42 -7.42 2.00
Dragons -8.98 -11.81 2.80
Zebre -16.78 -16.99 0.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 69 matches played, 53 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 76.8%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Sharks vs. Ospreys Dec 03 25 – 10 10.80 TRUE
2 Edinburgh vs. Munster Dec 03 17 – 38 2.80 FALSE
3 Stormers vs. Dragons Dec 04 34 – 26 21.60 TRUE
4 Zebre vs. Glasgow Dec 04 17 – 45 -11.30 TRUE
5 Connacht vs. Benetton Dec 04 38 – 19 9.70 TRUE
6 Bulls vs. Cardiff Rugby Dec 04 45 – 9 17.00 TRUE
7 Leinster vs. Ulster Dec 04 38 – 29 12.30 TRUE
8 Lions vs. Scarlets Dec 05 32 – 15 7.30 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 10

Here are the predictions for Week 10. 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 Sharks vs. Lions Dec 24 Sharks 9.40
2 Stormers vs. Bulls Dec 24 Stormers 2.30
3 Connacht vs. Ulster Dec 24 Ulster -5.10
4 Glasgow vs. Edinburgh Dec 24 Glasgow 0.50
5 Benetton vs. Zebre Dec 25 Benetton 15.50
6 Dragons vs. Cardiff Rugby Dec 27 Dragons 0.40
7 Ospreys vs. Scarlets Dec 27 Ospreys 6.00
8 Munster vs. Leinster Dec 27 Leinster -6.20

 

Top 14 Predictions for Round 13

Team Ratings for Round 13

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
Stade Toulousain 8.11 6.34 1.80
La Rochelle 6.41 6.88 -0.50
Racing 92 5.99 4.86 1.10
Montpellier 4.61 4.18 0.40
Toulon 3.61 4.09 -0.50
Bordeaux Begles 3.55 5.27 -1.70
Clermont 2.68 4.05 -1.40
Stade Francais 2.20 -1.05 3.30
Lyon 2.11 3.10 -1.00
Castres Olympique 1.40 2.87 -1.50
Section Paloise -0.37 -2.12 1.80
Aviron Bayonnais -2.12 -4.26 2.10
USA Perpignan -4.51 -2.75 -1.80
Brive -6.40 -4.20 -2.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 84 matches played, 62 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 73.8%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Aviron Bayonnais vs. Lyon Dec 04 19 – 7 1.50 TRUE
2 Bordeaux Begles vs. Brive Dec 04 33 – 13 16.10 TRUE
3 Clermont vs. Montpellier Dec 04 19 – 14 4.50 TRUE
4 Stade Francais vs. La Rochelle Dec 04 27 – 14 1.50 TRUE
5 Stade Toulousain vs. USA Perpignan Dec 04 34 – 13 18.90 TRUE
6 Castres Olympique vs. Section Paloise Dec 05 26 – 22 8.70 TRUE
7 Toulon vs. Racing 92 Dec 05 14 – 31 5.50 FALSE

 

Predictions for Round 13

Here are the predictions for Round 13. 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 Toulon vs. Lyon Dec 23 Toulon 8.00
2 Brive vs. Clermont Dec 24 Clermont -2.60
3 La Rochelle vs. Bordeaux Begles Dec 24 La Rochelle 9.40
4 Montpellier vs. USA Perpignan Dec 24 Montpellier 15.60
5 Section Paloise vs. Aviron Bayonnais Dec 24 Section Paloise 8.30
6 Stade Toulousain vs. Castres Olympique Dec 24 Stade Toulousain 13.20
7 Racing 92 vs. Stade Francais Dec 25 Racing 92 10.30

 

Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 13

Team Ratings for Round 13

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
Leicester Tigers 4.83 7.93 -3.10
Sale Sharks 4.43 4.14 0.30
Harlequins 3.91 3.92 -0.00
Gloucester 3.52 5.92 -2.40
Exeter Chiefs 2.74 3.67 -0.90
Northampton Saints 1.32 3.99 -2.70
Saracens 1.10 -5.00 6.10
London Irish -0.15 -1.65 1.50
Wasps -0.18 0.77 -1.00
Bristol -4.00 -2.43 -1.60
Bath -6.30 -9.15 2.80
Newcastle Falcons -8.46 -8.76 0.30
Worcester Warriors -11.69 -12.27 0.60

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 57 matches played, 37 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 64.9%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Bath vs. Harlequins Dec 03 13 – 19 -5.70 TRUE
2 Bristol vs. Leicester Tigers Dec 04 26 – 26 -5.00 FALSE
3 Gloucester vs. Northampton Saints Dec 04 34 – 19 5.60 TRUE
4 London Irish vs. Newcastle Falcons Dec 04 39 – 17 11.60 TRUE

 

Predictions for Round 13

Here are the predictions for Round 13. 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 London Irish vs. Saracens Dec 24 London Irish 3.30
2 Newcastle Falcons vs. Sale Sharks Dec 24 Sale Sharks -8.40
3 Exeter Chiefs vs. Bath Dec 25 Exeter Chiefs 13.50
4 Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester Dec 25 Leicester Tigers 5.80
5 Harlequins vs. Bristol Dec 28 Harlequins 12.40

 

November 29, 2022

United Rugby Championship Predictions for Week 9

Team Ratings for Week 9

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 18.05 16.79 1.30
Ulster 9.71 9.27 0.40
Bulls 7.83 7.84 -0.00
Stormers 7.50 7.14 0.40
Munster 6.64 9.78 -3.10
Edinburgh 4.91 3.58 1.30
Sharks 4.06 6.95 -2.90
Connacht 0.44 -1.60 2.00
Glasgow -0.23 -0.00 -0.20
Lions -1.40 -1.74 0.30
Ospreys -2.21 -0.83 -1.40
Scarlets -4.18 -1.23 -2.90
Cardiff Rugby -4.63 -7.42 2.80
Benetton -4.80 -3.68 -1.10
Dragons -9.60 -11.81 2.20
Zebre -16.06 -16.99 0.90

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 61 matches played, 46 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 75.4%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Stormers vs. Scarlets Nov 26 36 – 19 16.00 TRUE
2 Ulster vs. Zebre Nov 26 36 – 15 31.30 TRUE
3 Benetton vs. Edinburgh Nov 26 24 – 17 -6.40 FALSE
4 Bulls vs. Ospreys Nov 26 43 – 26 13.90 TRUE
5 Leinster vs. Glasgow Nov 27 40 – 5 21.50 TRUE
6 Munster vs. Connacht Nov 27 24 – 17 11.00 TRUE
7 Lions vs. Dragons Nov 28 33 – 25 13.90 TRUE
8 Sharks vs. Cardiff Rugby Nov 28 0 – 35 16.30 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 9

Here are the predictions for Week 9. 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 Sharks vs. Ospreys Dec 03 Sharks 10.80
2 Edinburgh vs. Munster Dec 03 Edinburgh 2.80
3 Stormers vs. Dragons Dec 04 Stormers 21.60
4 Zebre vs. Glasgow Dec 04 Glasgow -11.30
5 Connacht vs. Benetton Dec 04 Connacht 9.70
6 Bulls vs. Cardiff Rugby Dec 04 Bulls 17.00
7 Leinster vs. Ulster Dec 04 Leinster 12.30
8 Lions vs. Scarlets Dec 05 Lions 7.30

 

Top 14 Predictions for Round 12

Team Ratings for Round 12

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
Stade Toulousain 8.01 6.34 1.70
La Rochelle 6.81 6.88 -0.10
Racing 92 5.28 4.86 0.40
Montpellier 4.64 4.18 0.50
Toulon 4.32 4.09 0.20
Bordeaux Begles 3.36 5.27 -1.90
Clermont 2.65 4.05 -1.40
Lyon 2.48 3.10 -0.60
Stade Francais 1.80 -1.05 2.90
Castres Olympique 1.63 2.87 -1.20
Section Paloise -0.61 -2.12 1.50
Aviron Bayonnais -2.49 -4.26 1.80
USA Perpignan -4.41 -2.75 -1.70
Brive -6.21 -4.20 -2.00

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 77 matches played, 56 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 72.7%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 La Rochelle vs. Castres Olympique Nov 27 53 – 7 9.60 TRUE
2 Montpellier vs. Aviron Bayonnais Nov 27 35 – 14 12.80 TRUE
3 Section Paloise vs. Brive Nov 27 22 – 6 11.70 TRUE
4 Stade Francais vs. Toulon Nov 27 12 – 17 5.00 FALSE
5 USA Perpignan vs. Bordeaux Begles Nov 27 23 – 20 -1.70 FALSE
6 Lyon vs. Stade Toulousain Nov 28 21 – 14 0.30 TRUE
7 Racing 92 vs. Clermont Nov 28 46 – 12 7.50 TRUE

 

Predictions for Round 12

Here are the predictions for Round 12. 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 Aviron Bayonnais vs. Lyon Dec 04 Aviron Bayonnais 1.50
2 Bordeaux Begles vs. Brive Dec 04 Bordeaux Begles 16.10
3 Clermont vs. Montpellier Dec 04 Clermont 4.50
4 Stade Francais vs. La Rochelle Dec 04 Stade Francais 1.50
5 Stade Toulousain vs. USA Perpignan Dec 04 Stade Toulousain 18.90
6 Castres Olympique vs. Section Paloise Dec 05 Castres Olympique 8.70
7 Toulon vs. Racing 92 Dec 05 Toulon 5.50