This week's biggest games to watch on Rugby Pass

The second Lions test promises to shine bright like a diamond, while the Super Rugby season recommences in South Africa and the NRL schedule provides some quality clashes in Australia.

Super Rugby: Sharks vs Bulls (Saturday, July 1, 1:00 am HKT)

Praise the rugby gods, Super Rugby is back! Well, in South Africa it is at least. We rejoin the competition in Round 15, which began a full month ago, with the Sharks playing host to the Bulls in Durban. If you’ve forgotten absolutely everything about Super Rugby in the past month, the Sharks have pretty much sewn up 8th place and a playoffs spot while the Bulls are entirely out of the running. Pre-international break form suggests this should be a walk in the park for the home side, but you wouldn’t want to put money on it with neither side having played for a month.

International: All Blacks vs Lions (Saturday, July 1, 3:35 pm HKT)

At the start of the tour quite a few pundits were picking the second test as the one the Lions had the greatest shot of beating the All Blacks. That theory has gone a bit quiet, especially since the All Blacks’ convincing 30-15 win in the first test last weekend, but it could still hold some weight. Warren Gatland and co know what they’re dealing with now and the midweek 31-31 draw with the Hurricanes was the Lions’ most attacking performance of the tour. Keep that momentum going and this will be an epic test.

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NRL: Raiders vs Cowboys (Saturday, July 1, 5:30 pm HKT)

Some good sides are going to find themselves oustide the top 8 come September. The Canberra Raiders could well be one of them. After a strong season in 2016 they currently sit in 11th spot and desperately need a win over the 7th-placed Cowboys this weekend to keep the finals dream alive. The Cowboys are hardly secure of a playoffs spot themselves, especially now they’ve lost the talismanic Johnathan Thurston to injury for the rest of the season. On a cold night in Canberra the home side have the advantage, but it should be a good fight.

NRL: Knights vs Tigers (Sunday, July 2, 11:55 am HKT)

A massive four-pointer in the battle to avoid the NRL’s wooden spoon, with both sides currently anchored to the foot of the table on 8 points apiece. The 2017 Knights are an improvement on last season’s effort – they have pushed plenty of better teams all the way this season but fallen just short on too many occasions. The Tigers position on the ladder is hardly a surprise given the personnel changes and off-field turmoil the club has endured this year. The Knights home fans deserve to see a win here which would lift their club off the bottom of the table – let’s get in behind the blue and red.