adminWellington — The All Blacks suspended scrumhalf Aaron Smith yesterday over a toilet tryst with a woman at a busy airport, in the latest scandal to hit the beleaguered New Zealand Rugby union.
Coach Steve Hansen said the 54-Test veteran breached team standards and his fellow players felt he should be punished. “As a result Smith was not considered for selection for this weekend’s Durban Test,” Hansen said as the world champions prepare for their Rugby Championship Test match against South Africa.
Hansen said Smith was seen entering a toilet cubicle with a woman at Christchurch Airport the day after the Test against South Africa in the South Island city last month.
Commentators said it continued a “season from hell” for New Zealand Rugby (NZR) after incidents involving Waikato Chiefs players and a stripper, followed by a teenage star’s violent rampage.
New Zealand media ran grainy mobile phone photographs of Smith (27) and the woman leaving the airport’s disabled cubicle after about 10 minutes.
“This was not discreet, it was 14:00 on a Sunday where there were a lot of children and fans around,” a unnamed witness told the New Zealand Herald. “He was in his full All Blacks uniform and there was not an ounce of remorse or regret on his face.”
It is not Smith’s first brush with controversy. In 2014, he said he was “hugely embarrassed” after a naked selfie emerged on social media but insisted he had learnt his lesson.
He will face a misconduct hearing on his return to New Zealand.
NZR chief executive Steve Tew said: “This was really bad decision-making by Aaron which reflects poorly on him, and on the team.”
Tew faced criticism from women’s groups last month over NZR’s handling of a stripper’s allegations that Chiefs players sexually assaulted her during a team night out. — AFP
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