Prior to arriving in Unionville as Syrian refugees in mid December last year, Mohammad Nour and his brother, Ahmad, had no idea what rugby was.

But with just a few months under their belts as Canadian residents, they now know what the game entails.

In fact, they’ve since taken to the Austin Park pitch in Markham as budding members of the Markham Irish Canadian Rugby Football Club’s youth program.

Mohammad, 11, is a member of the under-12 team while Ahmad, nine, is playing with the under-10 contingent.

The pair’s presence in the sport would not have been possible were it not for the support they’ve received from Gareth Callaway, a Markham Irish Canadian Rugby Football Club coach and a former rugby referee who also took in the pair’s family on their arrival from Turkey last year.

Having three of his own youngsters playing for the club, Callaway noted Mohammad and Ahmad’s indoctrination came about when they elected to accompany him whenever he took his own kids to their respective team practices.

“They had never even heard of (rugby),” he recalled. “It was completely foreign to them.”

With Mohammad playing the tackle version of the sport and Ahmad the flag version, the pair are learning the rudiments of the game.

Acknowledging they are still grasping the game’s concepts, each has their own reasons for enjoying the sport.

For Mohammad it’s the physicality.