In Edinburgh's gloaming the lights went out on British interest in the World Cup last night. It was Scotland the Brave and it was, in the tradition of all teams coached by Jim Telfer, Scotland the astute, the determined and the adventurous. But, as with all other 20 meetings between these two nations this century, that capital W will not be next to Scotland's name in rugby's history-books.

Scotland did have the final word with Cameron Murray's late, exhilarating try, and the Scots at least achieved what Wales and England had so miserably failed to do during the weekend and crossed the opposition line twice. But the All Blacks' supremacy was rarely threatened and in the end they easily marched into the final four.

Even with the day's rain turning the Murrayfield pitch into a skid-pad, the All Blacks were never going to slip on their way to a semi-final encounter with France at Twickenham next Sunday that they surely cannot lose on their imperious form. They have scored 206 points in four games already and no team looks capable of quelling the fire-power that brought them four more tries last night.

Telfer, for whom this was his swan song, knew his side had to throw a defensive net over rugby's Gulliver, Jonah Lomu, and achieve what New Zealand's other opponents so far had failed to do and prevent the giant wing scoring a try.

Scotland managed to shackle the big man for over an hour. Murray's brave tackle knocked the ball from Lomu's grasp when he had crossed the line 10 minutes after the break, and Gregor Townsend showed up Lomu's defensive frailties in the first half when he put some teasing kicks that sent him scurrying backwards.

But Lomu showed his nuisance value in the first quarter-of-an-hour, a period in which the writing was on the wall for the Scots in large, black letters. New Zealand ran up a 17-point lead that threatened to squeeze the pips from their mandarin-shirted hosts. It wasn't just that the All Blacks scored 17 points, it was the way in which they did it. It was both ruthless and made to look very easy.

Lomu thundered in from the left wing and it took six tacklers to prevent him from rumbling over the line. But New Zealand had the ruck which they won and then won again. Andrew Mehrtens fed Christian Cullen, whose neat flick sent Tana Umaga in for the first of his two tries. Mehrtens, who had scored an earlier penalty, landed the conversion and the All Blacks were up and running.

Scotland barely had the chance to draw breath before Jeff Wilson fielded a loose kick deep in his own half and gave Mehrtens a pass on the halfway line. Mehrtens, whose brilliant attacking out-half play has so illuminated the tournament, sniffed a gap which he cruised through before feeding Wilson who blazed over from the Scottish 22.

The Scots had to dig deep to prevent themselves from being buried. They drove time and again thrillingly into New Zealand territory with some ferocious pressure in the second quarter. But the All Blacks' defence held firm and after Kenny Logan and Mehrtens had swapped penalties they scored a third try against the run of play in the dying seconds of the first half, Marshall and Wilson combining before Cullen cleverly gave Umaga the space to dart over.

Mehrtens failed to return for the second half after injuring a knee but after Townsend had converted a drop goal it was time for the virtuoso Lomu to take over. Murray's tackle prevented a certain score but Lomu finally found some space on the touch-line. The All Blacks won a scrum, Josh Kronfeld joined the line and flung a huge pass to Lomu who rounded Murray and ran 30 metres before crashing through Glenn Metcalfe's despairing tackle.

Still the Scots would not lie down. After the All Black lock Robin Brooke had been shown a yellow card for killing the ball, there was more sustained pressure on the New Zealand line and after a series of rucks Budge Pountney was driven over for his first Scotland try.

And there was more to come from the Scots. With the seconds running down, Martin Leslie intercepted Tony Brown's pass on the halfway line. The flanker did not have the gas to make it to the line himself but a clever pass found Murray, who sold Lomu an outrageous dummy before aquaplaning over in the corner.

But it was the end of the line for Scotland and for their captain Gary Armstrong, who after the game announced he was joining Alan Tait in retiring from international rugby.

After the Murrayfield defeat the also retiring Telfer praised Armstrong and his contribution to the team over the years.

"I think it's far more emotional for Gary," insisted Telfer.

"It's a big difference running onto the pitch than watching it from the sidelines.

"It was quite emotional for me but for Gary and Alan Tait it was a tremendous occasion.

"Gary is the bravest player I have seen, he should have been a flanker but he was too small. I think he's got 51 caps and he epitomises all the traits of a Scotsman."

All Black coach John Hart said after the match that his side needed to improve if they were to lift the Webb Ellis trophy for a second time after winning the inaugural tournament in 1987.

"We've got some work to do," Hart said after the match played in atrocious weather conditions.

"Our performance was a mixture," the All Black coach said. "We played extremely well in the first half and then we lost a bit of composure. Some things, like the line-out, did not function the way they should do."

Hart said the injury to his pivotal out-half Mehrtens was being monitored.

"He received a bang on the knee," Hart said of his number 10, who was replaced by Tony Brown.

"We don't think there is any serious damage but we will not know for sure until he undergoes a scan tomorrow," he added yesterday.

New Zealand's win leaves France as the only side capable of winning the World Cup for the first time. The All Blacks won the first tournament in 1987, Australia triumphed in 1991 while South Africa were victorious in 1995 and have yet to lose a World Cup match.