Eton Fives vs Rugby Fives: What's the Difference?
Eton Fives and Rugby Fives are the two main codes of Fives, the British handball game played with padded gloves against walls. Eton Fives is doubles-only, on a three-sided court full of deliberate hazards: a step, a ledge and a buttress. Only the serving pair can score, and games run to 12. Rugby Fives is singles or doubles in a plain four-walled court. Only the receiver can score, and games usually run to 11 or 15.
Side by side
| Eton Fives (3-wall) | Rugby Fives (4-wall) |
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| The court | Three walls, open at the back, copied from the chapel wall at Eton College: the step, the ledges, the buttress. | Four plain walls, 28 ft by 18 ft, with a level floor and no hazards. |
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| Players | Doubles only: two pairs of two. | Singles or doubles. |
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| Scoring | Games to 12. Only the serving pair can score. | Games usually to 11 or 15. Only the receiver can score. |
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| The ball | A cork-and-rubber composite, a shade bigger than a golf ball. | Similar size, but harder and leather-cased. |
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| Gloves | Padded leather gloves on both hands. | Padded leather gloves on both hands. |
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| Governing body | The Eton Fives Association, founded 1924. | The Rugby Fives Association, organising the game since the 1920s. |
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| Referee | None: players call their own faults. | None: players call their own faults. |
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The court is the big difference
An Eton Fives court copies the space between two buttresses of the chapel at Eton College, including everything an architect would call a mistake: a step splitting the floor into upper and lower court, a ledge running across the walls, and a buttress jutting into the left-hand side. The game is built on those hazards. A Rugby Fives court is a plain four-walled box, 28 feet long by 18 feet wide, with a wooden board across the bottom of the front wall; the ball must strike above its top edge, 2 ft 6 in up. The Eton court rewards cunning with angles. The Rugby court rewards speed, fitness and clean striking with both hands.
The scoring runs in opposite directions
In Eton Fives only the serving pair can score, and games run to 12. Rugby Fives inverts that rule: only the receiver can score, so serving is a duty rather than an advantage, and games usually run to 11 or 15.
What they share
Both codes use a small hard ball a shade bigger than a golf ball, padded leather gloves and no racket. Neither uses a referee at any level: players call their own faults and offer their own lets.
Which should you play?
Whichever has a court near you. For the three-wall game, start with the twelve-minute Quick Start and find your nearest court. For the four-wall game, the Rugby Fives Association is the front door.