4 Nov 2017

Smith warned following toilet tryst investigation

8:24 am on 4 November 2017

All Black halfback Aaron Smith has been issued a formal written warning after a second investigation into his toilet tryst last year.

All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith tries to evade the tackle of Wallaby hooker Stephen Moore.

All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith tries to evade the tackle of Wallaby hooker Stephen Moore. Photo: Photosport

Smith was suspended from a test match and sent home from South Africa last year after having sex with a woman in a toilet cubicle at Christchurch Airport.

The Daily Mail Australia published text messages in August, in which Smith allegedly asked the woman to lie on a legal affidavit, suggesting she state the pair entered the toilet together but did not have sex.

New Zealand Rugby said an independent investigation found there were inconsistencies between what Smith told rugby chiefs at the time and what was printed in the media.

It says they were not so serious as to affect the outcome of the hearing last year.

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said it is critically important that rugby players are honest in disciplinary hearings, so Smith had been issued with a formal written warning.

He would not say what the inconsistencies were, or comment on the claims over the text messages.

-RNZ

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