Down the toilet: All Blacks drop Aaron Smith over illicit airport bathroom encounter
New Zealand suspend halfback over a toilet tryst with a woman at a busy airport, in the latest scandal to hit beleaguered New Zealand Rugby
The All Blacks suspended halfback Aaron Smith on Thursday 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.