All Blacks star Aaron Smith suspended after toilet encounter with woman

ALL Blacks superstar Aaron Smith fought back tears and apologised to his girlfriend and teammates after being publicly shamed over his airport sex scandal.

All Blacks star Aaron Smith has been banned for one game after an incident with a woman in a disabled toilet. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

ALL Blacks star Aaron Smith choked back tears as he publicly apologised for his airport toilet sex scandal last night.

“I’ve made a huge mistake, a huge error in judgement. I’d firstly like to say a huge sorry to my partner Teagan, her family, my family,” Smith said at a media conference in South Africa.

“I’m also sorry to my teammates, the NZRU and the New Zealand fans.

“My behaviour was unacceptable and if you could respect me and my partner in this situation, I’m just trying to get home to deal with this. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Smith’s girlfriend Teagan Voykovich has asked to be left alone as she deals with the “very private matter”.

In a statement released by the New Zealand Rugby Union, Ms Voykovich asked the media not to contact her or her family as they dealt with the situation. The statement said Voykovich was suffering from “some distress” due to attempts to contact her about Smith’s behaviour.

Smith fought back tears while making his apology.

‘NO QUESTION WHAT THEY WERE DOING’

Smith and an unnamed woman were spotted using the same disabled bathroom at Christchurch Airport on a busy Sunday afternoon. They entered and exited the toilet separately, but were inside together for about ten minutes.

A man told the New Zealand Herald he was at the airport with his wife and young children when they saw Smith “sneak” into a wheelchair access bathroom with a young woman who was not his partner.

“The pair were in the bathroom for 5-10 minutes and from the noises coming out of the bathroom there was absolutely no question what the couple were doing in there.

“Mr Smith then came out of the room on his own straightening up his white checked shirt and black dress pants (the All Blacks uniform they were all wearing at the time).

“About a minute later the young lady comes out of the same toilet cubicle looking equally suspicious. I myself did not have a problem with this... my wife however is protesting that this is disgusting for a public figure to do this.

“He essentially occupied a public cubicle reserved for the disabled for up to 10 minutes. This was not discreet, it was 2pm on a Sunday where there were a lot of children and fans around. He was in his full All Blacks uniform and there was not an ounce of remorse or regret on his face. He buttoned up his shirt and sat back down with his team mates and carried on smiling chatting like nothing had happened.”

Aaron Smith with his girlfriend Teagan Vojkovich. She wasn’t the woman at the airport.

The incident occurred after the All Blacks’ 41-13 victory in Christchurch on September 17. All Blacks management were only made aware of the incident this week once they arrived in South Africa for their final Rugby Championship test. Smith has been stood down for that game, and is returning home to New Zealand.

“On the Sunday in Christchurch after the South African test at the Christchurch airport, Aaron and a female friend were seen by members of the public to enter the disabled toilets,” All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said.

“On our arrival to South Africa on Monday we were informed on this. I had a conversation with Aaron who confirmed the story. As a result of this the leadership group met and were unanimous in the fact the behaviour wasn’t acceptable and as a consequence a one match suspension would be put in place.

“At his request has asked to go home to deal with the personal matters that have come with this incident and we are happy to support him with that.

“Clearly Aaron is bitterly disappointed in his behaviour and feels he has let the team down but just as importantly he feels bitterly disappointed in letting his family and his partner down.”

Aaron Smith with his girlfriend Teagan Vojkovich.

SMITH’S SORDID HISTORY

Smith, who many rate as the best halfback in world rugby, made his test debut in 2012 and has played 54 tests for New Zealand. He was a key part of the All Blacks’ successful Rugby World Cup campaign last year. But in recent seasons, his private life become very public.

In 2012, Smith was benched ahead of a test against South Africa in Dunedin for breaching team protocol after missing a curfew. Two years later, a naked selfie of him was posted on the internet, forcing the NZRU to pull him out of a meet and greet with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Most significantly, Smith’s then-girlfriend Hannah Whitefield ditched him in 2014 after learning he had a one-night stand with a former stripper, Lisa Lewis. Ms Lewis told Ms Whitefield about the cheating herself after learning Smith wasn’t single, revealing the couple had got together the night before a Super Rugby clash in Auckland at a team hotel.

Lisa Lewis.

Ms Lewis had stayed in contact with Smith, exchanging Twitter messages and FaceTime chats, until he confessed he was seeing someone else. At that stage, Ms Lewis broke off further liaisons and contacted Ms Whitefield to tell her he had been unfaithful.

Now Ms Lewis has been forced to deny she was the woman who engaged in the airport tryst with Smith.

“I’ve had about 15 messages this morning asking if I’m the girl that screwed Aaron Smith in the toilet,” she said in a Snapchat video. “I’m too classy to do it in the toilet, especially the disabled one.”

Thanks for clearing that up, Lisa.

Good on the field, bad off it.

‘LEAVE HIM ALONE’

Pretty much all of New Zealand has reacted to Smith’s latest drama.. Even Prime Minister John Key has got involved, saying the All Black “clearly let himself and those that are close to him down”.

Key said that the All Blacks had been “for the most part” good role models in recent years under the leadership of Richie McCaw and Kieran Read.

“They do try and prove to young New Zealanders that they’re the sort of people to look up to.

“That’s why I think Aaron will feel pretty disappointed in himself.

“And I think the [NZRU], coming off the back of a few other pretty poor PR issues in recent times will want to send a strong message to the All Blacks that they have a high level of expectation of their behaviour.

“And Aaron clearly didn’t meet it.”

Key agreed that Smith needed to be held to account for his actions, but the punishment need to be in proportion with his actions.

“You can’t hold him responsible for the other issues that happened. They are individual events.

“It’s about proportionality here. But equally I suspect he’ll be sitting back reflecting on the fact that he’s let himself down... and frankly he’s embarrassed himself a bit.”

Smith’s own aunt, Caroline Smith, was more sympathetic towards him, telling people to “leave him alone”.

“I suppose we have the All Blacks up on a pedestal. They have them up so high, but he’s just a young guy.”

— New Zealand Herald

Originally published as All Blacks star Aaron Smith suspended after toilet encounter with woman