World champions South Africa put on a dazzling display to demolish Wales' Grand Slam heroes in the opening Test in Bloemfontein.
Conrad Jantjes, Jean de Villiers, Pierre Spies and Percy Montgomery breached the fragile Welsh defence while the metronomic kicking of Butch James kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Jamie Roberts and Shane Williams both got tries for Wales, but the Springboks were already out of sight.
South Africa - who fielded a gargantuan pack and featured five survivors from their triumphant World Cup final last autumn - showed flashes of brilliance throughout.
But Wales were the main architects of their own downfall with an indisciplined display full of mistakes, handing Warren Gatland his first defeat since becoming head coach.
Gatland had talked all week about the need to earn the respect of the Springboks but Wales did not fulfil his wishes in sun-kissed Bloemfontein.
Instead Wales' quest for a first victory on South African soil - they have now lost all seven meetings - must continue in Pretoria next weekend after this eagerly-awaited showdown proved to be a major disappointment.
From the Springboks' perspective the only downside to the day was the disappointing 23,000 crowd at Vodacom Park, which is being redeveloped and has a reduced capacity of 27,000.
For those that did turn up it quickly became obvious that most of the Welsh team had not played for nearly a month, missing the final round of Magners League games to participate in a training camp.
Their rustiness showed during a one-sided first half that saw them trail 22-10 at the interval thanks to a large error and penalty count.
Flanker Juan Smith and centre de Villiers bristled with aggression as they made strong early carries and by the 10th minute Wales were 6-0 down.
The precise boot of James was giving them a pasting on the scoreboard with a solitary penalty from Stephen Jones offering breathing space.
Strong runs from Ryan Jones and Tom Shanklin then established a good field position only for an infringement by Adam Jones to blow the chance.
Wales slipped further behind when James landed his fourth penalty as South Africa opened an ominous lead while scarcely breaking sweat.
But the Springboks' hearts were pounding in the 31st minute when Jantjes crossed with another Welsh error proving fatal.
Lock Andries Bekker stole a line-out throw destined for Alun-Wyn Jones and South Africa went to the midfield where Jantjes combined with Adrian Jacobs before taking the scoring pass.
The try preceded a flurry from Wales, who made ground by spinning the ball wide and were rewarded with a try in the 37th minute.
Several forwards were involved as South Africa's line was stretched but it was Parker who did the real damage by bouncing off two tackles.
The Ospreys centre still had the presence of mind to look for the offload and Jamie Roberts answered his call to race in at the corner.
Stephen Jones converted but James landed a penalty on the stroke of half-time to preserve South Africa's healthy points cushion.
Spies, de Villiers and Jacobs made breaks soon after the interval, drawing concerned looks from the 1,000-strong contingent of Wales fans.
And the frowns deepened when de Villiers showed strength to escape Mark Jones and charge over - with a turnover again proving the source of the try.
James Hook replaced Stephen Jones as Wales looked to the bench for inspiration.
But the South African assault continued as scrum-half Bolla Conradie weaved his way to the line before feeding Spies for his side's third try.
Williams showed his predatory instincts to finish a move started by Mark Jones - skipping past the covering Habana in the process - to give Wales something to cheer.
But substitute Montgomery raced past a tired Welsh defence with ten minutes to go to hammer the final nail into the coffin.
