The Queensland Rugby Union have fined former Wallabies great George Smith for failing to tell them of his 18-day stint in the custody of Japanese police.
Smith returned to Brisbane late last week after completing his Top League commitments with Suntory Sungoliath.
However, his time with the club turned sour when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver in an attempted fare evasion on December 31, and was detained by Tokyo police for nearly three weeks.
During that time, the 37-year-old missed a period of training with the Queensland Reds as well as rehabilitation on his injured back.
Suntory apologised for the incident but Smith was subsequently released without charge.
The Reds, who were already dealing with the fallout from Karmichael Hunt’s latest cocaine charge, only found out about Smith’s arrest when it hit the news.
It’s understood a contrite Smith fronted the QRU’s board on Monday and apologised for his actions and for not keeping them fully informed.
He was also slapped with a fine, roughly equivalent to his pay for the period he missed, but is now back at Ballymore and has resumed training.
Smith still has one year left on his contract with Suntory but it’s unclear whether he will see it through.
The Reds are hopeful Smith will be fit and ready to play in their round eight Super Rugby clash away to his former club, the ACT Brumbies, on April 7.
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