Aaron Smith Speaks: "I've Made A Huge Mistake"

All Black Aaron Smith has apologised for making "a huge mistake" after his airport toilet sex scandal.

"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 team-mates, 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."

Earlier, the partner of Smith asked for privacy as she deals with "a very private matter'' at this time.

In a statement released by the NZ Rugby Union last night, Smith's girlfriend Teagan Voykovich asked that media not contact her or her family as they dealt with the situation ahead of them, after the halfback and a woman used a disabled toilet at Christchurch Airport.

The statement said Voykovich was suffering from "some distress'' by attempts to contact her about the incident involving Smith and a mysterious woman.

Prime Minister John Key said yesterday afternoon that Smith "Clearly let himself and those that are close to him down".

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."

- NZ Herald