Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw believes very little separates Test teams from the northern and southern hemisphere.

McCaw suggested results from last November's tours to Europe had shown that northern hemisphere teams had considerably closed the gap on their southern hemisphere rivals.

'If you look at South Africa losing to Italy, Wales and England, the Aussies losing to England, and New Zealand to Ireland – I actually thought there was very little between the teams before, but that reinforced that,' McCaw told the Daily Telegraph.

Three of the top five spots on the World Rugby rankings are occupied by northern hemisphere teams, but New Zealand are placed first, with Australia third.

Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images