Oh well, no gripping drama with a dynamic duo in Thomond Park then.
After the televised festive frolics of Wallace & Gromit and Gavin & Stacey, those tuning in for the unscripted sporting drama in Limerick will not get to witness a spectacular clash of two Irish favourites.
Jack Crowley has been scratched from this fixture by IRFU HQ after Munster required him in their wheezing win in Belfast last weekend.
Maybe the combined Munster and Ireland brains felt they couldn’t have done without him there; it would have been nice had they instead decided they might have really needed him here.
And so the man of today will not face the man of tomorrow in Sam Prendergast, the emerging darling of the 10 shirt.
He will make the trip south to brace the inevitable catcalls from the feverish home throng but in direct opposition to Billy Burns, the man of yesterday.
More pantomime boos were revealed upon production of the Leinster team sheet, with RG Snyman also allowed an extra day’s rest over the Christmas period.
Leinster will not mourn his absence; the presence of a midfield pairing that would not look out of place in Lions’ red next summer reflects their awesome strength, and the nine-point handicap as they seek to stretch their unbeaten run.
Munster do welcome Tadhg Beirne back but almost as a metaphorical figure to place a finger in the dyke; there will be no Peter O’Mahony to rouse the carousing locals, while dousing the visitors’ fire with ire.
Nine of the men in blue are likely to play in the Six Nations; Beirne remains the only home representative who can claim a similar boast.
On paper, then, another hopeless mismatch and a reminder of the geographical and financial imbalance within the sport; too late, now, to apprehend and amend.
For all that, the emotions of combatants and celebrants will remain as visceral as always; additional goal-line seating is in place at both ends of the ground on Friday night with an increased capacity of 26,267.
None of them will care which men fill the jerseys, but rather how fearsomely they represent it. That emotion is non-negotiable.
“Hopefully we’ll never lose that,” says Munster assistant coach Denis Leamy.
“It means a lot to both camps, it certainly does. It means a lot to us. We’ll have a packed stadium. It’ll be really buzzing and the boys really look forward to this fixture every Christmas.
“It’s very special. The emotion part of it is always there. What I see with players these days is they’re probably not as emotional as they maybe were 10 or 15 years ago. But nonetheless there will be plenty of emotion on show no doubt on Friday night.”