Harlequins vs Sharks
What the model says about this fixture, at either ground and at a neutral one, with the record behind it. Ratings as at 2026-08-24.
Harlequins 65.4%draw 2.5%32.1% SharksSharks 61.4%draw 2.5%36.1% HarlequinsHarlequins 50.8%draw 2.5%46.7% SharksEach figure is 5,000 simulations of this fixture. The score is where those runs are centred, not a likely scoreline — a rugby result is spread far too widely for any single one to be likely.
How the runs finished
Winning margin across 5,000 simulations of this fixture. Bars right of the centre are Harlequins wins; the faded bars at each end hold everything beyond 75 points.
Margin percentiles
Eight runs in ten finished between 12 Sharks and 25 Harlequins, with the middle run at 5 Harlequins.
Those are gaps rather than scorelines. How much scoring the match produces is drawn separately — between 30 and 71 points in eight runs out of ten — so one bar covers many scores. The middle run above is 22-17 on a tight afternoon and 32-27 on an open one.
Why Harlequins are favoured
Starting from an even match and adding what the model reads, in percentage points of win probability. Positive favours Harlequins, negative favours Sharks.
Harlequins 1668, Sharks 1613 — 55 points, favouring Harlequins
Harlequins are at home
Recent results, head-to-head record and rest days, as the XGBoost heads weigh them. Deliberately capped, so it can nudge the rating but never overrule it.
Head to head
Harlequins1–0–1Sharks2 meetings, 2022 to 2023 · Harlequins by 1.0 on average
| Date | Match | Competition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-01-21 | Harlequins 39–29 Sharks | European Champions Cup | Twickenham Stoop |
| 2022-12-10 | Sharks 39–31 Harlequins | European Champions Cup | Hollywoodbets Kings Park |
None of this feeds the forecast: both ratings already contain these results.