Unlike many other sports, there is only one definitive home of rugby football -- even if there is no forensic proof of Webb Ellis' groundbreaking moment of fame, of which he was oblivious; much of his life was spent in the Anglican clergy in the French Alps bordering Italy.
Former Rugby pupils -- Old Rugbeians -- formed the rump of the game's first administrators. The game was "invented" and run by the boys, not their masters.
The statue of Webb Ellis outside the school is imposing and his name is on the World Cup but his claim as father of rugby football is far from cast-iron. There are no contemporary accounts of that day in 1823 when he supposedly caught the ball (allowed) and ran forward with it (forbidden).
Much of the legend is based on the writings of Matthew Bloxham, a former pupil then a solicitor and clerk of court in Rugby. He wrote to the school's magazine in 1876 that he had heard from an unnamed source, thought to be his brother, that the change from a kicking to a handling game had "originated with a town boy or foundationer of the name of Ellis, Webb Ellis". Think of that when you see a black-shirted Kiwi collect a high kick, spreadeagle a sorry defence and cruise under the posts. If you are more a fan of the round-ball game, consider that it was a schism between those of a Rugby persuasion and those who wanted handling reserved for goalkeepers alone that led to the founding of the English Football Association and, to the All Whites, Lionel Messi -- and also Fifa.
There is nothing to document Webb Ellis' contribution. The Old Rugbeian Society looked into the claims in 1895 but found no proof. Nonetheless they decided to perpetuate the myth, as it seemed the most plausible explanation. It was the same year that a split in domestic rugby in England resulted in the birth of the 200-strong northern football league, which became the 13-man oval-ball game.
By this time the number of players in a football match at Rugby had been reduced from hundreds to 20 a side. Games could last six days, in bursts. A wonderful drawing in the school museum, which Rusty pointed out -- beside a sketch of Queen Adelaide's visit in 1839 -- shows a game in progress, the goal-line blocked by onlookers -- hence crossing the line was all but impossible and counted for nothing; it merely invited an attempt (a try) at scoring a goal by booting the ball over the crossbar.
In 1841, Big Side Levee, the body of boys that made the rules, legalised running with the ball and it became part of the game officially in 1846. There were no referees, no teachers involved; disputes were ironed out, boy to boy, on the field.
For Adelaide's visit the boys wore special red caps -- setting a tradition common to many sports today in which caps are awarded for achievement.
Old Rugbeians carried a missionary zeal for their old school game to Britain's universities -- then all over the world, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
A sense of history weighs heavily on today's pupils -- and inspires visiting teams. The day of my visit, the XV were outmuscled by Oundle, 3-33. The pitch on The Close where Webb Ellis made his name, was immaculate, but the players -- boys of 17 and 18 -- would have looked alien to him. Kitted in white, they may have been, but these lads looked chiselled, the result surely of tough personal training regimes.
Director of sport Simon Brown, who played for Harlequins and England at junior levels, knows his teams are always a coveted scalp for visiting sides. He says it was eerie to play here with his own school, Radley. "There's a big sense of history here." He says working at what he terms the home of the game is "special".
"I feel hugely privileged."
The 800-pupil co-ed school runs 16 sides and Simon says his undefeated Under-14s hold out the prospect of success right through the age ranks.
Rugby School first admitted girls in 1975 and, while they can play rugby, they prefer hockey, netball and tennis. The school boasts 11 rugby pitches, and there are four full-time sports teachers. High-profile rugby teams and players often visit, including All Black Josh Kronfeld.
Rugby School, our host, language lecturer Jonathan Smith says, dates from 1567, in the reign of Elizabeth I. Its founder, Lawrence Sherriff, made his fortune supplying the monarch's groceries, and his will specified the creation of a free grammar school for local lads, but its reputation for excellence soon spread. Boys began to come from much further afield -- too far to commute, so they lodged with the headmaster and, later, in dormitory houses. This was the start of the boarding school.
School House, an 1815 innovation, featured in Tom Brown's Schooldays, the book by Thomas Hughes, who attended Rugby from 1834 to 1842. The school has hosted several film adaptations of the novel based on the travails of Hughes' brother, George, which made Harry Flashman synonymous with the school bully.
Thomas Arnold, headmaster when Webb Ellis attended the school and until 1842, when he died, orchestrated many of the reforms for which the school is famed and they have been much-copied by schools worldwide.
He added history, maths and modern languages, introduced prefects and encouraged sport.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the modern Olympics, drew inspiration from Arnold's philosophy and considered him the "father of organised sport".
A plaque unveiled by Lord Sebastian Coe in 2009 underscored de Coubertin's view. In July 2012, the Olympic flame was paraded around the school and paused at the de Coubertin plaque.
Earlier, a costumed re-enactment of an 1883 rugby match on The Close, was followed by an inspiring Thomas Arnold Lecture by 400m hurdles Olympic legend Ed Moses. He told the students: "I wasn't the smartest and I was never the fastest but I worked and kept my nose to the grind to get me where I needed to be."
As the Olympic flame lit up the school chapel, the town was suddenly hit by a power cut. The lights flickered in the chapel. Moses, ever the consummate professional, was unfazed. He clicked his fingers and the lights came back on. Pure coincidence, but a few more souls had been illuminated at Rugby School, carrying on centuries of tradition. One senses Dr Arnold would have approved.
