The 31-year-old educator, or what we might call a life coach, is in Dunedin as part of a fledgling pilot referee exchange programme.
The Otago Rugby Football Union has kept him busy.
He refereed his fifth game at the weekend — a Dunedin metro division 1 clash between Harbour and Dunedin.
Before that game, he caught up with the Otago Daily Times for a chat. His biggest lesson so far has been not to apply the laws so strictly and let the game flow more.
His rationale may surprise you.
‘‘So, yeah, it’s very interesting because the feel of it is totally different than in France,’’ Lemonnier said.
‘‘We are more factual. And here, it’s more about what the game needs, because it depends on how the players are.
‘‘I mean, in France, I think players are more vicious and try to cheat a little bit.
‘‘So we need to be..maybe the players [here] deserve more playing or to be less strict.
‘‘[But in France] the referee had to make sometimes tough decisions for the game, for the players. Here, it’s different.’’
Lemonnier, who is from Normandy but lives in Paris, is affiliated with the Racing 92 club.
He started refereeing when he was 17. Initially, it was because he wanted to learn more about the game and to keep his fitness up.
The former flanker discovered he enjoyed it and pressed forward and climbed through the ranks.
He referees in the Nationale 2 of French rugby, which would be perhaps similar to Heartland rugby in New Zealand.
He has also been an assistant referee in the National (similar to NPC) and a substitute referee in the Pro D2 — the second-tier rugby competition in France.
Lemonnier arrived in Dunedin in mid-May and leaves on Sunday.
The goal is to improve his refereeing and his English. And it is just a wonderful opportunity to see a country he describes as ‘‘like Neverland’’ where the rugby culture ‘‘is so great’’.
ORFU game development and refereeing officer Brandon Hale said the plan was to send some referees from Otago to France as part of the exchange.
There were a few barriers to overcome first.
‘‘It’s a bit more difficult than it is here,’’ Hale said.
‘‘There’s a lot of insurance that has to go along with it. So I think this first exchange with Benoit is hopefully going to be the catalyst to actually show the benefits from it.
‘‘He’s a bit of a guinea pig for this. Hopefully, it will be a regular occurrence.’’
