France have displaced South Africa at the top of rugby's world rankings, while New Zealand have slumped to an all-time low, after a stunning northern hemisphere sweep of the major July tests.
The All Blacks topped the rankings for the best part of a decade from late 2009, but are now down in fourth, behind France, Ireland and South Africa, after Saturday's 23-12 defeat to the Irish.
Coach Ian Foster said the top teams in the world were closer than at any time he could remember.
"It was a northern hemisphere weekend, so while there's a bit of doom and gloom in our camp, it's actually great for world rugby and it sets up next weekend really well," he said.
"It's kind of what everyone wanted, except we didn't want it. There's some strong teams out there.
"We hate losing and it hurts like hell. We still want to be No.1."
Fourteen months before they host the World Cup, France have reached the pinnacle of the rankings for the first time with successive wins on their tour of Japan.
'Les Bleus' already returned home after their 20-15 victory over the 'Brave Blossoms' at Tokyo, so their stay at the top will be brief, as the other top teams all play in series deciders next weekend.
World champions South Africa will be confident of beating Wales in the third test at Cape Town to seal their series, after a weakened side lost 13-12 at Free State Stadium.
The Irish moved up to second in the rankings and will go one better, if they can overcome the three-time world champions again at Wellington on Saturday to clinch the series.
Southern hemisphere teams have won eight of the nine World Cups and dominated the top spot in the world rankings for most of the 19 years since they were introduced in 2003.
England leapfrogged Australia into fifth place with their 25-17 victory over the Wallabies at Brisbane, which also tied up their series before the third test at Sydney.
Scotland did the same to Argentina, after their win over the Pumas at Salta to level up that series at 1-1, moving into seventh place ahead of Wales, with Argentina dropping to ninth.
Reuters
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