Northern UK, England, WPH Press, 8/30/17- WPH RFC Outdoor Director and Pittsburgh’s top six WPH Ladder star Mathieu Pelletier recently traveled to England and connected with Rugby Fives player Tom Wakelam. “It’s a really fun game,” stated Pelletier, who played at the university courts at Durham courts. “I’m definitely looking forward to playing again on my upcoming business trips to England.”
According to the Rugby Fives website, Fives is like squash, but played with your hands. Continuing to cite the Rugby Fives homepage, Rugby Fives first started by hitting a ball against a wall and was eventually formalized at a Rugby School, where it derived its named “Rugby Fives.” Rugby Fives likely started in the 19th century, with official records going back to the 1920’s. Official courts are squash courts, made of cement, with updated indoor courts featuring glass back walls. The rules are similar to squash, in that the ball cannot be hit below the 19-inch line on the front wall. Points are made in the receiving position. The serve is thrown in the air into the front wall then right wall and hit like tennis, with the server smashing the ball back into the right side wall front wall.
WPH ambassador, 2014 WPH UK Singles tournament director, and UK WallBall president Dr. Daniel Grant is one of Rugby Five’s top players, currently sitting at #5 on the Rugby Fives National Singles Rankings. “I grew up playing Eton Fives in school but I play more Rugby Fives now,” stated Grant. “Both are very gentlemanly games. Sportsmanship is held to a very high degree. I’m happy to play Rugby Fives or setup games with anyone traveling to England.”
Red Bull’s World 1-Wall Big Ball #1 Timbo Gonzalez recently traveled to England to play Eton Fives, a similar version of Rugby Fives. “It was an amazing experience,” recalled Gonzalez. “Just having a chance to watch the top players in this game was great. I learned a lot and I’ll use that new knowledge in my game. Check out Red Bull’s production of Timbo’s introduction to Eton Fives here
To learn more about Rugby Fives, go to their homepage here
To learn more about UK WallBall, go here
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David Fink
WPH Senior Writer