All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says back-rower Jerome Kaino will be given all the time he needs after allegations of infidelity resulted in him flying home from Australia on Saturday.
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New Zealand Rugby released a statement just hours before the Bledisloe Cup opener saying Kaino had flown back to New Zealand to deal with personal issues after reports emerged of an extramarital affair with Australian woman Tara Pokarier.
The report alleged the All Blacks forward had been "cheating on his wife with a former Australian model", claiming they had met in hotels in Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane before Pokarier discovered he was married.
The article claimed Pokarier arranged via Snapchat to meet Kaino when she was in Auckland in May last year.
A "close friend" was quoted in the article as stating Pokarier was shocked to discover that the All Black was married.
Kaino's wife Diana reacted on Facebook with the word "devastated" but later deleted the post.
Hansen did not take kindly to a question on whether Kaino, who was not picked in the match day 23, would be available for selection for the All Blacks' next match against Australia in Dunedin on Saturday.
"That's a pretty loaded question," Hansen said. "We all know what the problem is, he's got stuff he needs to deal with so once he's dealt with that we'll make some decisions.
"There's been enough written about that already. It's a personal thing that he and his family have to deal with and there's no point us sitting here trying to talk about how he feels.
"I've got no show of telling what his headspace is. You put yourself in his shoes, what would yours be like?"
In what has been a particularly difficult week for New Zealand rugby in the wake of the Kaino allegations and resurfacing of the Aaron Smith sex scandal, Hansen said there was no more motivation than normal before the All Blacks' 54-34 thumping of the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium.
"Rugby is always going to have moments where you're not happy with what's going on but ultimately it's all about Saturday isn't it?" Hansen said. "It's about winning the game and doing things right and doing things you can be proud of, so we've done that tonight.
"We did nothing different this week to what we normally do.
"Motivation's not about things like that. Motivation comes from players who want to be the best they possibly can be. It doesn't matter what sport you play ??? motivation is internal."
Asked what he thought of Smith's performance after being in the spotlight all week, Hansen replied: "I thought he played really well".
Meanwhile, Hansen deflected a question in relation to a News Corp report revealing court documents that showed All Blacks team manager Darren Shand told police he believed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika may have been involved in the planting of a listening device in New Zealand's team hotel last year.
Shand's comments completely contradict what Hansen said on Thursday.
"We certainly haven't named them ... and we never will because we don't know who put it there," Hansen said during the week. "I don't know where they feel the inference was because we certainly haven't blamed ??? we don't know who put it there."
On Saturday, Hansen did not want to make comment, while an All Blacks media manager tried to change the topic of conversion.
"The bug case is over, isn't it?" Hansen said.
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