Brutal, just brutal.

And most brutal of all in an opening half when Scotland, swamped by the green and gold tide of South Africa, blundered about blindly and coughed up yet more easy points. If they looked a little better in the second period it has to be acknowledged that they had set the expectation bar rather low by then.

Not since their 40-0 loss to New Zealand in 2007 had Scotland failed to register a point in a Test match. They surrendered three tries to South Africa in the first half, another in the second, and their own efforts to get over the line late in the game were hardly convincing. Replacement wing Max Evans did get through three minutes from the end, but the television match official ruled that the ball had not been grounded and the score was disallowed.

Even those colonies of nematode worms that have lately been eating their way through the grass roots beneath the Murrayfield surface must have been bamboozled by what went on in the opening 40 minutes. At one end of the pitch, the end Scotland were meant to be attacking, they chomped away quietly, enjoying a remarkably peaceful lunch, while their mates at the other end must have thought the roof was falling in as the Springboks thundered by overhead.

Scotland might have shared that thought. It would be overstating their return from that first quarter to describe it as disastrous. Their lineout fell to pieces at a rate rarely seen at this level of the game. Of Ross Ford's first six throws, five saw the ball end up in South African hands.

The reasons for that failure were not exactly clear, but the consequences were stark. Without set-piece possession, Scotland were reduced to spectating roles, although that comparison would probably do a disservice to the more animated sections of the crowd. To be fair, the Scots did, in fact, tackle with determination and accuracy, but it was no credit to the rest of their game that they found themselves so firmly on the back foot.

When a few scraps of possession did come their way, Scotland made a dig's dinner with them. Those passes that did get anywhere near their intended targets were telegraphed so clearly that South Africa mopped up the danger with ease. With those that did not, the Springboks were deadly.

It would be a travesty to overlook the quality of the opposition. South Africa play a game without trimmings, but no side in the world can beat them at meat-and-two-veg rugby. They played hard, they played straight and they played in a manner worthy of the second best team on the planet. Indeed, in light of the All Blacks' rather fitful performance against England on Saturday, it could be argued that the Springboks were the world's best team this weekend.

It would also be wrong to ignore the pockets of quality in the Scottish side. Sean Lamont had a real thrust on the ball, and focused South African minds every time he came into a move. John Barclay put in a heroic shift in adverse circumstances. The scrum held up well enough, with Ally Dickinson more than justifying his selection throughout.

But those qualities only began to shine through once the game was lost. Granted, that moment came much earlier than anyone expected, for the third try, in the 31st minute, virtually finished off the contest. From the earliest moments, however, the signs for Scotland had looked ominous. In fact, when the Springboks captain Jean de Villiers ordered Pat Lambie to kick for touch rather than a goal when they won a penalty in the third minute, it was clear that South Africa had a certain level of self-belief. Moments later their confidence was justified, for the Springboks regathered at the lineout, No.8 Duan Vermeulen handed the ball on to Willem Alberts, and the flaner was thrust over for his try by the posse of players who piled in behind him.

It was a classic South African forwards' try. And in the classic South African way, they kept on battering Scotland up front from that point on. It was a ferocious physical contest and there was little doubt about which team was coming out on top. Even when Scotland were not coughing up cheap possession at the lineouts, they had a devil of a job digging the ball out of the breakdowns. South Africa's excellence there meant they had ample time to regroup, giving their defensive line an almost absurdly easy job.

And all the easier, still, as Scotland made such a mess of their own attempts to move forward. The game clock had just clicked past the 35-minute mark when Scotland finally carried the ball into the South African 22. It was a brief visit, too, and by then they had already leaked another two tries.

The first of those fell to Willie le Roux, the South Africa full-back who finished with a man-of-the-match award. A Scottish move had broken down with predictable ease near the left touchline and Le Roux simply whisked it off his toes and set off in the opposite direction. Seventy metres and a few seconds later, Le Roux was diving over the line. As Scotland had actually managed to string a few phases together just before the score, it was a crushing blow for their confidence.

Another followed two minutes later. South Africa collected the Scottish restart, Le Roux put in another killer burst, and then unselfishly clipped the ball to the right for JP Pietersen to race through and score. That was it for the first half, but South Africa claimed their fourth try, 13 minutes into the second, when replacement prop Coenie Oosthuizen drove over for another lineout near the Scottish line.

The Scots did try to play a bit after that, strung some moves and phases together and actually stretched the Springboks at times. But they were chasing a lost cause. They have a lot of work to do before the Australians pitch up next weekend.