Geoffrey Riddle / 19 November 2009 Free Bet View Market

"The best way of making money out of this game is backing the Wallabies to win in 80 minutes. Deans has made just one change to the team that came so close to dethroning Europe’s best side and at the prices, they should be outstanding value on a handicap that is likely to sit between nine and 12 points."

Dinah Washington's song, 'What a Difference a Day Makes' was one of the theme tunes to the Martin Scorsese film, Casino, and the layers look to have gambled on the fact that Scotland have had an extra 24 hour's rest ahead of Saturday's clash with Australia at Murrayfield.

Brian O'Driscoll deflated a nation's dreams on Sunday when he scored a last-gasp touchdown in front of the posts that allowed Ronan O'Gara to kick Ireland level with Australia in Dublin. It destroyed the real hopes of all Australians that this crop of Wallabies could match the feats of their Grand Slam-winning side of 1984. And it is that heartbreak, with such a short turnaround, that seems to have prompted the layers to take a chance on Andy Robinson's new-modelled Scotland. There is no other way to explain why Betfair punters are offering up Robbie Deans's tourists at [1.2].

The last time these two teams met, in 2006, the match prices were broadly similar. Scotland came away from Murrayfield with a 44-15 thrashing. It was the 17th successive time that the Scots had failed to beat the Wallabies, a record that goes back 27 years.

Scotland went into the match having despatched Romania 48-6, and a similar scenario seems to be playing itself out again. An easy 23-10 victory over Fiji has persuaded everyone that Scotland are the real deal. It must be remembered that Fiji were without a whole host of their stars, due to European clubs not agreeing to let them go. It has recently emerged, however, that Fiji never asked for these players to be released in the first place, which goes a long way to reveal quite what an outfit Scotland beat last week.

I got quite excited about the chances of Scotland at least registering the first points of the match, and bagging a profit before the whole thing went wrong. Under Frank Hadden, Scotland scored the first points of the match 75% of the time at Murrayfield, and six of the last ten times they played a Tri-Nations team in Edinburgh. Even England's record of scoring first under Robinson was good at home when he coached them. As Australia were likely to be considerable favourites for the Murrayfield mismatch, I was reckoning on a whopping price.

But stop your mouse hand bettors. Under Deans, Australia have smashed into matches with real vigour, scoring the first points in nine of their last ten road games. It's an astonishing record, and one that severely tempers getting involved in that market from any perspective.

What it does highlight, however, is that there are likely to be early points, and as Australia have displayed a recent fear of scoring points in the second half, it may be worth trading total points in-running. Still, to my mind, the best way of making money out of this game is backing the Wallabies to win in 80 minutes. Deans has made just one change to the team that came so close to dethroning Europe's best side and at the prices, they should be outstanding value on a handicap that is likely to sit between nine and 12 points.

It's difficult to know what to make of both Ireland's fixture against Fiji and Wales's clash of cultures with Argentina.

Wales made some exquisite plays against Samoa in Cardiff on Friday. James Hook made some scintillating breaks, and if he had remembered that he was a fly-half by nature, and not a full-back, he may have actually passed the ball out of danger to create at least two certain tries.

In contrast, Argentina were turgid in their 16-9 defeat to England. And although their pack summoned a considerable punch, it seems that Wales coach Warren Gatland couldn't give a hoot about the supposed strength of the Argentinean scrum. Earlier this week he poo-pooed the Pumas front-five, while also mentioning that his team were sure to finish their plays off a lot better this weekend. It's a bold statement, and one which has pushed Wales' supremacy up a few notches by the layers. It's not high enough to warrant getting stuck into Argentina, though.

Despite Declan Kidney making a raft of changes to his Ireland XV that faces Samoa, if you look at the teamsheet, it's still a very strong side. The backline looks extremely creative, with full-back Rob Kearney sure to join the line frequently. Let's hope that winger Keith Earls doesn't suffer the stage fright that made his Lions tour so difficult earlier this season. Although Ireland probably deserve to be around 25-point favourites, you can't really quibble at this sort of level, as three-points either way on such inflated lines holds very little percentage difference.