As the refereeing days (running until 8 October) backed by Nicolas Karabatic get under way, we meet a calling stamped Pays de Loire (Rugby Club Baulois) and a humble but ambitious young man. Louis Droneau, 23, national winner of the 2025 young referee competition. 

Anything you say may be taken down in your favour. So: first name, surname, age, occupation? 

Louis Droneau, 23, volunteer rugby referee. And alongside that, I work in human resources at the Château des Tourelles in Pornichet (44).

First rugby experience? At what age? 

The first one I remember was the pitch. I was a little under 6. I started at La Baule. I came to rugby thanks to my cousin, who had already started playing, so my uncle told me to come along. I was naturally drawn to football, since my father had played it. But I went. Mini-poussins, the scrum cap, the gum shield, the ears sticking out, and I fell into it. So I loved it straight away. The team-sport side, the togetherness, the giving of yourself.

That was the under-11s at the time? At Saint-Nazaire’s SNR, which had not yet become Saint-Nazaire Ovalie. Still at?

Yes, it wasn’t SNO yet, and then I stayed, I did all of my Cadet years there. And then, as a Junior. We were in the national competition at the time. I played in the scrum. And then, as a Junior, I came back to La Baule. And that is where I met Elliot, among others (a portrait of the globetrotting prop to come, editor’s note). All the lads I am still in touch with today. We did our Junior years there. We were lucky enough to be regional champions with La Baule as Juniors, in the very first year, in 2019, before Covid.

Speaking of which, Covid was a turning point in everyone’s life… 

I am not too sure why, the desire I think to learn the laws really deeply, to accompany the game, to have another role. I turned to refereeing, a bit out of curiosity at first. At 18. 

First feats of arms? 

I got the chance to run the touchline twice at Stade Nantais (‘Nationale 2, editor’s note). It is serious, because there is a crowd there, there is something at stake, there are big powerful men, and they don’t necessarily speak French. It was a superb experience. It was a great level, you move up a category at that point. You are dealing with semi-professionals. And then, Fédérale 1. 

Tell us about this competition and the presentation of the best young French referee award at half-time of the last Toulouse – UBB final at the Stade France…

We have theory exams to sit on knowledge of the laws, knowledge of the game and so on. Like the driving test or like the baccalauréat. There is a written part, with all the knowledge of the laws, of the book, the definitions. 167 pages, 20 laws. The best 12 are selected. For the weekend of the Top 14 final, invited by the Federation and la Poste (‘sponsor of the refereeing days, editor’s note), which is the partner of refereeing in many team sports. I went to Marcoussis, the National Rugby Centre, where I sat oral exams and tests. Video case studies. We had to explain our processes, they test your composure as well. 

First time at the Stade de France? 

When you are down there, you really feel tiny. It is gigantic. It is gigantic. We were lucky enough to watch the match from pitch level. We were between the UBB bench and the players who were not on the team sheet, it was impressive. 

You are a volunteer? 

There is no match fee, we get an allowance of 70 euros and travel expenses. The hardest thing for me is the mental fatigue. We are volunteers, so we have a whole life alongside it. We have a job, or studies depending on the person. We go out at the weekend… So it is a real commitment. And then, at the weekend, even if you are out on a match, it only lasts 80 minutes but it takes up the whole weekend.

Is there an ambition behind it? 

The competition was not an aim in itself. But winning it inevitably gives you a bit more assurance and recognition too, more legitimacy, more credibility. And also more desire.

A Louis with the whistle in the Top 14 at 30, is that possible? 

It is a dream, yes, I think you always have to have that dream, or at least the ambition, that may not be the right word, but at least that dream of going as high as possible. And then the ambition builds up as you go along. You mustn’t fly too close to the sun either.

Have you ever had third halves with the players of both teams or not? 

Yes, I make a point of doing it because, well, when I come off after a match, I first go and see the coaches on each side, ask them whether there is anything, any points for them, any clarification they would like. It is a team sport, about giving of yourself, about helping each other. The ball, when you are young, they tell you “it is like your mother’s handbag!”