Aaron Smith voluntarily sits out Bledisloe clash

Disgraced All Black halfback Aaron Smith has decided to voluntarily sit out from the Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies on Saturday.

The 27-year-old announced his decision following New Zealand Rugby (NZR) disciplinary meeting in the wake of Smith's toilet tryst scandal at Christchurch Airport last month.

The disciplinary panel chaired by New Zealand Rugby General Manager Rugby Neil Sorensen, heard over the matter for more than two hours.

The 54-Test veteran was also handed over a formal warning following the proceedings.

“It’s important to note that as an employment matter, it is not usual to comment publicly on proceedings. However, both Aaron and his legal representative, and New Zealand Rugby acknowledge that in the circumstances, there is a need to make some public comment,” Sorensen said.

“The misconduct meeting has concluded:

• In light of the impact on the reputation of All Blacks jersey and the commercial partners Aaron’s actions amounted to serious misconduct
• Aaron Smith will be issued with a formal warning
• He will voluntarily stand down from assembling with the All Blacks for this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup Test match
• He will forfeit his selection fees and,
• He is committed to getting the support he needs to deal with personal issues and to work on his relationship with his partner.

“Aaron presented himself as genuine, honest and incredibly remorseful. We have also taken into account the fact that the very public nature of this incident, has had a significant impact on him personally.

“We accepted that he is genuine about wanting to improve himself and note that he himself has acknowledged he will need the support of his family, friends and Rugby to move forward.

“We also noted that Aaron had already made a very public apology to his partner, friends and family, team mates, his employer, and rugby fans and he had already served a one-week stand down.”