Week off will hit halfback Aaron Smith; NZ Herald

Whether Aaron Smith was told to take another week off or came to the decision himself following his misconduct hearing as stated by New Zealand Rugby, one thing is clear - not being part of the All Blacks' tilt at a world record will hurt him.

The formal warning and forfeiting of his test selection fees after being found guilty of serious misconduct for entering a toilet with a woman at Christchurch Airport last month were likely taken in his stride. He will already have committed to getting support for his "personal issues" and working through his relationship with his partner.

But not being to help a team he dearly loves prepare to play the Wallabies at Eden Park as they bid for a world record 18th consecutive test victory will likely make this week an especially difficult one for him.

To that end, the decision - whether he made it or NZ Rugby did - is a slight surprise.

While there is no disputing the fact that he brought himself, his team and NZ Rugby into disrepute with his daft decision, it seemed more likely that Smith would be brought back into the fold in the short term, at least to train if not to play.

His absence will mean there is less of a chance of a distraction as the All Blacks reassemble in Auckland today, but their performance in the 57-15 victory over South Africa at Kings Park after a difficult few days suggested little can rattle them.

This will be the third test in a row Smith hasn't played for the All Blacks, and with 52 starts in 54 tests, the 27-year-old, regarded as the best halfback in the world, is not used to standing on the sidelines.

The earliest he will play again for Steve Hansen's team is on November 6 against Ireland in Chicago, and he will almost definitely be involved in that one before he and the All Blacks move on to Rome, Dublin and Paris.

In the meantime, his rival for the No9 jersey, TJ Perenara, has another opportunity to impress, and has done that during his previous two starts against the Pumas in Buenos Aires and Springboks in Durban.

Smith's not done yet, though. He is clearly committed to getting the right support and his employers NZ Rugby haven't taken an overly punitive stance.

As he was found guilty of serious misconduct, NZ Rugby were within their rights to fine Smith, too. They obviously believe he has suffered enough in the court of public opinion, and to be fair to them and Smith, the media attention following the player's departure from Durban to his Dunedin home has been almost unprecedented.

"Aaron presented himself as genuine, honest and incredibly remorseful," said NZR's general manager rugby, Neil Sorensen. "We have also taken into account the fact 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 he 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, teammates, his employer, and rugby fans and he had already served a one-week stand down."

Smith will be back, but for now can only watch from afar.

 Missing three games is not good for him but it has meant the ABs had to give TJ more time so the team knows more about him & he has improved his performance. The beat goes on

 The most heinous thing he did was using a disabled toilet as regards the public .The rest is between him ,his missus and the other woman involved .I daresay a few teams would have found a way to keep him playing but the ABs try to set a standard for themselves so they gotta stick with it I guess .Personally I dont care who was involved I wouldnt film it and I certainly wouldnt make it public its just none of my business.

Is it just me, or are New Zealand players always in the media for unacceptable behaviour?

I think the real question here is whether or not the All Blacks will waive their supposedly stringent "no d!ckheads" policy (as they did with Julian Savea) or apply it . . . in which case Aaron Smith's international career should in theory be over.

 Why should they ? He broke the ABs policy and its up to them to administer it how they want .Certainly not anyone elses business and given that Smith brok no laws hes been punished more than enough .Savea has done no wrong of late ,if every team sacked every player for life for any infractions there wouldnt be any bugger still playing .Its a theory only postulated by you I am afraid .Ruin a mans career for having consensual sex with a woman ? Yeah right.

Goodness me but you do get very defensive, Wardad!
You're also sounding quite contradictory. Your first line says "why should they?". I assume that's your answer to my question . . . but note I'm asking if the All Blacks management should waive their "no d!ckheads" policy, not enforce it. 
Your answer is confusing. First off you're asking why should they waive that policy and then you go on to give a whole bunch of reasons why they should.
I'm not postulating any theories and I'm not passing any judgement. I'm just asking a simple question.
Look, the All Blacks do have a "no d!ckheads" policy, don't they? Yes? Okay then, now Aaron Smith has just behaved like a bit of a d!ckhead, I'm sure most would agree. So if you and the All Black management turn a blind eye and bring him back into the team some time in the future, that is actually contravening the policy . . . so why have the policy in the first place?
Just by the way, Julian Savea did beat up his girlfriend/partner which I'm sure most would agree is something a d!ckhead would do and - although it was some time ago - it was also done when the "no d!ckheads" policy was in place so I mentioned it simply as another example of the All Blacks ignoring their own policy.

Not sure what this "no ... policy" is but surely it includes if you are punished you get a chance to prove you are worthy of the AB jersey again?

I don't disagree JW, but then why have the policy?
If you've never heard of it just google "all blacks no d!ckheads" or something like that.

 They have a policy which is their own ,how they implement it is up to them .Ju st because we disagree from time to time it doesnt mean your under attack .As JW says ya gotta allow for players to redeem themselves ,even Savea .If you didnt A.Cruden would be sacked for missing a flight ,something I doubt any team would do.

 Those pratts Marto and co were droning on about how evil the ABs were while compl etely ignoring the fact that their own idiot players bought down their coach .Beale got countless free passes while JOC seemed to cop it left right and centre for relatively minor transgressions but he was out of form so that didnt help him Dumb and dumberer were even crapping on about Cruden missing his flight which is the same thing JOC did when missing his teams pre flight photo op before the 2011 RWC .6 wallabies copped it for breaking curfew but hey thats OK .