New Zealand All Black halfback Aaron Smith is in the news again after the content of messages between himself and a woman were revealed. Photo / Greg Bowker
New Zealand All Black halfback Aaron Smith is in the news again after the content of messages between himself and a woman were revealed. Photo / Greg Bowker
Opinion by Rachel Smalley
Rachel Smalley is a radio host for Newstalk ZB. Listen to her between 5am and 6am every weekday morning.
All Black Aaron Smith's alleged toilet tryst is back in the headlines.
The story published by Daily Mail Australia appears to show some private messages Smith exchanged with the woman he was caught with emerging from an airport toilet. The hook-up wasn't a one-off as Smith publicly claimed:the two had been meeting for a couple of years, the messages claim.
None of which is in the public interest.
Having sex with someone in the disabled toilet at an airport is not illegal. A disabled loo that smells of disinfectant and has bright fluorescent lighting wouldn't be my first pick - but you know, each to their own.
The point is, Smith and the woman in question haven't committed any crime. They can do what they like in their private lives.
No, they shouldn't be occupying a disabled toilet. Yes, he's an All Black and was there with his team, and members of the public outside that toilet cottoned on what may have been happening inside. He was representing the All Blacks at the time, too. So there's a lot that is distasteful and morally corrupt about this saga and it was in very poor judgment - but it wasn't illegal.
Aaron Smith apparently tried to get the woman to sign a false affidavit. Photo / Brett Phibbs
However, the story is back in the headlines because messages purported to be genuine have been published, which apparently show Aaron Smith encouraging the woman in question to sign a false affidavit claiming she had not had sex with him.
If true, that's where he's run into trouble. That would be illegal.
The woman in question is a lawyer. If true, it was a foolish move from Smith. Surely she was never going to sign a false legal document.
The report says the woman also claims that Highlanders management don't want her to train at the same gym as some of their players in Dunedin. It's reported she says they told the gym's management they were concerned she would target other players. She reportedly says Smith targeted her first, and she has no intention of doing that. The Highlanders deny talking to the gym in question about any individual.
So why has this reared its head now? It seems the woman was looking to resolve the issue. I'm not sure what resolve means, but it's reported she says she contacted Smith's agent a few weeks ago to resolve the issue in private, and was told to wait until the end of the British and Irish Lions tour.
She agreed to, but says she has since seen that Smith has been holidaying in Fiji.
The report says last week her lawyers sent letters to the New Zealand rugby boss Steve Tew, the Highlanders and Smith's agent Warren Alcock. It's reported she received no response.
She reportedly says she feels like a scapegoat and has been thrown under the bus to save Smith's career.
Smith could be in trouble on two fronts. The suggestion is he has possibly lied to All Black management and that could land him in serious hot water, and the apparent attempt to get the woman to sign a false affidavit claiming the two hadn't had sex, if true, puts Smith in a very precarious position.
How will New Zealand Rugby respond? They haven't yet. We'll wait and see what they do today. Will the All Blacks stand him down again, though?
I think they have to, don't they? Quite apart from the nature of the allegations, it's hard to see him performing at his best this weekend.
What a shambles ... and all for an apparent tryst in a disabled loo in Christchurch.
