The 2024-25 United Rugby Championship season gets underway this weekend with both of Scotland's representatives hoping to get off to a positive start.
Glasgow Warriors go into the new campaign as defending champions after their stunning run to the URC Grand Final last season where they claimed a famous win over Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria to lift the trophy.
Edinburgh Rugby, meanwhile, missed out on a play-off place last season after a disappointing 10th place finish and will be hoping for a better outcome in head coach Sean Everitt's second year in charge.
Both sides face a tough start to the campaign as Glasgow kick things off at the Kingspan Stadium in Ulster on Saturday while Edinburgh welcome title favourites Leinster to The Hive on Friday night.
But where will the Scottish sides finish this season? That question has been answered by a URC supercomputer which has predicted the entire league standings from first place through to 16th.
The boffins at Grosvenor Sport have based their findings on a probability model, not determined by human predictions or bias. The supercomputer has estimated the outcome of each fixture based on a team’s current strength (based on factors such as league position and form) and betting market odds.
The machine then simulates all matches in a season 10,000 times and constructs an average league table from the ensuing simulations, to rule out anomalous results.
Here is the predicted URC table for season 2024-25, from last placed to first, according to the Grosvenor Sport supercomputer...
5. Sharks - 12th
Projected to be the lowest ranked South African side again but tipped to climb two places higher in the final standings after last season's 14th placed finish, winning 11 more points than the 25 garnered last term. Sharks are pictured in action during their 21-10 defeat to Glasgow at Scotstoun in April. | SNS Group
6. Connacht - 11th
The Galway side are predicted to finish in the same spot as last season. However, the supercomputer predicts they will win one fewer match and collect six less points than their previous tally of 45. The picture is from Connacht's 28-21 pre-season friendly against Glasgow at Scotstoun earlier this month. | SNS Group
7. Benetton - 10th
The Italians made the play-offs last season after a respectable seventh placed finish but they are projected to tumble out of the reckoning this term with nine wins and 44 points dropping them three places, compared to 11 wins and 54 points last term. Pictured is action from Edinburgh v Benetton at The Hive last November. | SNS Group / SRU
8. Edinburgh - 9th
Sean Everitt's side finished 10th last season and are projected to miss out on the play-offs again despite finishing one place higher. The supercomputer says they will finish on the same number of points (49), winning one fewer match than last season (11), but collect more bonus points. The return of Darcy Graham, pictured scoring a try in last week's pre-season win over Gloucester, from long-term injury is a major boost. | SNS Group