If rugby can play a part in the regeneration of Christchurch, the high school will inevitably be involved.
The school is at the heart of the rugby world's most streamlined, integrated and successful provincial development system, and produces the kind of player that Canterbury and the All Blacks can't do without.
In recent years the CBHS No10 jersey has been worn by Andrew Mehrtens, Aaron Mauger, Daniel Carter and Stephen Brett, all sophisticated, goal-kicking playmakers with time on the ball.
Last year's NZ under-20s captain, Tyler Bleyendaal, and Fletcher Smith, the 16-year-old CBHS incumbent, look set to continue the school's output of high-class first fives but for the moment the spotlight rests on Colin Slade, who finished his five-year stint at the school in 2005 and this year became an All Black. He's well aware of the legacy.
"It's got to be more than a coincidence for me, whether it's the set-up or the fact that so many good 10s have been here before you. There is that expectation that you've got to perform, you've got to be a good kicker, you've got to do everything well, and if you want to add to the legacy there's an opportunity for you.
"People also probably notice you more because of the history and the jersey, but that does only mean that you are scrutinised more and you have to practice more, knowing that people are watching you."
During Slade's two years in the jersey, 2004 and 2005, the 1st XV went unbeaten and also returned the Moascar Cup to the South Island for the first time since its inception in 1920.
"To this day that game against Hastings Boys' was still probably one of the biggest games I've played," he says. "There's a real size difference when you go up there. The boys in the Auckland and Wellington teams are just massive compared to the skinny little white boys from down south.
"Hika Elliot was in that Hastings team and he would have been the same size then as he is now."
For the playmakers of CBHS the burden of ensuring that their team plays smart rugby against all comers is something they have to get used to at an early age.
"In Auckland there's not so much pressure on the first five to control the game," says Dods. "Up there it's freeball, the patterns are different. Here in Canterbury it's very strategic - we see it as a game of chess. There's not a lot of 50/50 play; we love offloads but we don't like the 50/50 ball. If it's not 90/10 it's pointless doing it, so we don't, and that's ingrained."
This certainty about how to play the game underpins the development structures of Canterbury rugby. It may be homogeneous, with training systems drip-fed down from Super rugby to schoolboy level, but it's also cutting edge. When everyone is on the same page it makes it easier for people to commit. And rugby "down here" is all about commitment.
"We've got 53 former students playing professional rugby and half of them started in our under-14 'b's or below," says Dods.
"Colin Slade started in our under-14 'c' team. Owen Franks started under-14 'b's. At that age they just weren't X-factor players, but the system here allows boys to develop at different rates, and then make the 1st XV when they're ready. We really put a lot of emphasis on our 'c' and 'd' teams because we can't afford to miss the gems that come out of them."
CBHS is, for many boys, the gateway into the Canterbury rugby family and there seems to be a natural reciprocity in the way former students find it hard to stay away from the school they once represented.
Daniel Carter doesn't exactly need extra publicity but there he is on the school website, providing his alma mater with the most potent marketing tool imaginable. The Maugers are still heavily involved at the school. Rob Penney finds time away from his job with the Canterbury provincial team to coach CBHS under-16s, and the tentacles reach all the way to the top - All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen still looks after the under-13 'a's, having started his coaching career in the High School Old Boys' club. He says co-operation in the province is a given.
"Christchurch Boys' and St Bede's provide a lot of the talent so it's in Canterbury's interest to make sure they help develop the rugby in those two schools."
Hansen played centre at CBHS for two years, captaining the 1st XV in his final year.
"The school, along with my family, really helped foster that love of rugby and sport. It's hugely embedded with tradition, that's what makes it such a special place."
Dods, sitting with a cup of tea as the late-afternoon sun hits the oak panels of the Boys' High staff room, has a warning for Hansen and all those in the Canterbury rugby community: "We've got 500 boys playing rugby here, but the actual competitions are leaking teams.
"What used to be a 24-team under-14s competition is now about 18 teams. We've got to be careful, because once it starts getting to the tipping point I don't think we'll ever get it back."
His concerns are those of rugby administrators all over New Zealand. The hope is that in Rugby World Cup year there'll be a welcome spike in the numbers of those who play our national game.
For the country's foremost rugby city, though, many fields remain closed and there are no guarantees. The only certainty is that, as the people of Christchurch continue to do battle with forces beyond anyone's control, no one will be foolish enough to bet against them.
Out on the school playing fields the touchlines are lined six-deep with spectators, some middle-aged and wrapped up in scarves, others younger and sporting jandals and shorts on an icy mid-winter's day on the plains of the South Island.
St Bede's have the recent dominance in this fixture and their supporters are raucous, with hundreds of students forming a swell of chanting that gets occasionally interrupted by one of them firing up a chainsaw and revving it above his head like a lunatic. The CBHS backers, on the opposite touchline, are quieter - they know that in schoolboy rugby the visiting fans provide most of the testosterone.
The two teams run out in single file and lay their caps on the turf. Several thousand people quieten down to watch the hakas. When the challenges have been laid down and accepted, the referee blows his whistle. A boy wearing the No10 puts his foot through the ball, and another game of chess begins.
Adrian Hyland is a freelance writer who divides his time between Britain and his native New Zealand.
