All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has backed Aaron Smith to be at his best on Saturday night, despite the halfback's sex scandal erupting once again.
Today's press conference in Sydney ahead of the All Blacks' Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia was disrupted by new revelations, after the Daily Mail Australia last night released messages reportedly exchanged between Smith and the woman with whom he allegedly shared a toilet tryst at Christchurch Airport last year.
The Daily Mail Australia said it was barred from attending the All Blacks' media session, where Hansen fronted press and said he would deal with "the elephant in the room" to begin.
"Obviously the incident happened last year," Hansen said. "We dealt with it and we feel that we dealt with it decisively.
"There's nothing more that I can add to that but if it . . . needs to be spoken about it will come from the New Zealand Rugby Union - [chief executive] Steve Tew - so there's not much point in asking me any more questions about that, because I'll just keep telling you there's nothing more to add.
"I don't want to be defensive about it. It's just the way it is. I am excited to talk about the test, though."
Asked what head space Smith would be in before he starts on Saturday night, Hansen was confident his halfback would be ready to perform.
"He's in a great head space in that he knows that he's dealt with this issue and done the things he needs to do around it," Hansen said. "He's ready to play. We're excited about wanting to play. He's excited and we're looking forward to Saturday."
Hansen confirmed there was no discussion about removing Smith from the starting lineup and he had no concern it would affect the team's performance.
When another question regarded Smith was posed, All Blacks media manager Joe Locke interrupted and advised the assembled media to "move on to rugby" or the team might "wrap it up".
Smith was caught apparently having sex in a disabled toilet at Christchurch Airport last year as the New Zealand side prepared to depart for South Africa.
At the time, Smith downplayed the incident, saying it was a one-off, but apparent Facebook messages have been published that appear to show there is more to the story - and suggest that officials weren't given the whole truth.
The woman involved in the incident has also spoken about the incident. In an interview scheduled to air on TVNZ's Seven Sharp tonight, the woman will reportedly explain why she's taken legal action over alleged defamation.
"The way they had portrayed me was being as an absolute 'ho', a woman that had targeted this guy at the airport and forced myself on him and I'd acted in such a way that they didn't even want their players around me anymore," she said in a clip aired by 1News this morning.