Ulster rugby had to endure a miserable Christmas, for the most part, after a number of Covid-19 cases in the camp.
Festive fixtures against Connacht and Leinster were postponed but they are now back on track and will face off against Munster in Thomond Park on Saturday evening (7.35pm) in the United Rugby Championship.
It will mean a second reunion over the course of a few days for Australian Sam Carter.
While Covid restrictions and bubbles are hard for most, being a long way from home hardly helps matters.
Luckily for the 32-year-old, arrangements were made.
"I was very fortunate, my family flew over," he told RTÉ Sport.
"My parents and my sister and her husband were all over.
"It was the first time I'd seen them in 18 months. It was good to have them here and I had a really good Christmas."
Now that all the turkey and ham have been digested it's down to business for the 16-cap Wallaby, who gets to hook up with old pal and mentor Stephen Larkham tomorrow.
Not natural bed-fellows, one might think, but the second row credits the Munster coach with having a "major impact" on his development.
But the Aussie pair go back a long way.
Larkham is a World Cup-winning out-half who played 102 times for the Wallabies.
He coached at the Brumbies, where he will return as head coach at the end of the season, for six years and that's where he and Carter, who made 122 Super Rugby appearances for the Canberra outfit, gelled.
"Personally, I've had a lot to do with Stephen, or Bernie as we call him, throughout my career," Carter, who signed for Ulster in 2019, said.
"He was there for six or seven years while I was there. He's had a big impact on me and the way that I've developed through my career. It'll be good to see him this weekend.
"When I was pretty fresh on the scene I did a lot of skill work with him, just catching, passing, learning the game but then around the leadership side of things, too, when he was the head coach and I was the captain, we worked a lot together.
"We built a relationship and he's helped me a lot as a player."
With Larkham set to return home after a two-year spell that was mostly lived out through the pandemic, there is a sense of missed opportunity with Munster having failed to push on.
It wasn’t helped by out-half Joey Carbery spending much of that period out with an ankle injury.
The fact that Johann van Graan will also depart means something of a reset and then rebuild for the squad when the new coaching staff arrive.
However, Carter insists his old pal has left his mark.
"He's had a great impact on Munster, they've been a bit more expansive, they play with a lot of skill, a lot of variation off the line-out and scrum," the 32-year-old said.
And coping with the latter is part of Carter’s job on Saturday.
Ulster have delayed their medical update until they name their team at midday but the pack have had to play recent games minus captain Iain Henderson, the second row injuring his hamstring on Ireland duty in the autumn, before damaging his foot upon his return.
"I think we're doing really well," said Carter, who helped his side to two wins from two in the Champions Cup.
"Whoever has stepped up into that position has done a good job. I've been in there at times, Alan O'Connor has been playing really good footie, Kieran Treadwell when he got the opportunity against Ospreys and Clermont played really well.
"I think that competition and competitive nature between us has created a really good environment to be in.
"You have to play well when you get the opportunity because obviously if you don't you won't get it the next week.
"A couple of years ago when I first came in, we were good but we didn't have the reputation as being one of those big packs around Europe.
"A lot of work has gone into that, a lot of honesty in review meetings, preview meetings and a lot of hard work, working together as a pack to put those performances together and to build a competitive nature at training and on the pitch.
"That's what grows us as a forward pack."
On the subject of building confidence and reputation, Carter added: "The rent is due every week, you have to live up to that reputation and keep putting in the performances every week.
"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves because Munster have a good pack as well and that's something that we have to work towards.
"Obviously you need to show it each week to keep building that respect."
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