George Ford hails Marler's 'courageous' step and Jones' 'honest' man-management

England fly-half George Ford has lauded his teammate Joe Marler for his courageous decision to pull out from the Australian tour to address his disciplinary issues.

Marler is currently working with sports psychologist Jeremy Snape after his latest two-week ban for involving in a kicking incident with Grenoble hooker Arnaud Héguy while appearing for his club Harlequins.

The 25-year-old requested head coach Eddie Jones for "a short rest" from the game following which he was excluded from the high-intense tour of Australia.

Ford appreciated Marler's honesty over the issue and further expressed confidence on the Harlequins prop making a strong comeback.

"I honestly think it's courageous from Joe," Ford told Press Association Sport, of Marler's decision not to tour with England this summer.

"A lot of people potentially would have tried to get through it, knowing that they wouldn't be 100 per cent to give all they've got.

"So with Joe it's always team first, he's a great lad, everybody loves him, everybody respects his decision.

"And if he feels he can't give what we need, then to be honest like he's done in withdrawing himself, that's really courageous.

"All the lads respect him, they love him as a team-mate and I'm sure he'll be back."

Recently Jones offered Ford time-off from the England training following his father, Mike Ford's exit as the head coach of Bath while the former Australian coach had also given assurance to Joe Simpson that his appearance for GB Sevens won't affect his England future.

Ford believes Jones' man-management skills are exceptional and the 56-year-old knows when to take the hard stance and when to back his players.

"Eddie totally understands it, he knows lads go through difficult stages in their career," said Ford of England boss Jones' man-management skills.

"He knows lads potentially want to go and achieve different things.

"But the best thing with him is that he talks to you all the time, he's honest with you, he lets you know where he stands, he lets you know what he thinks.

"And that's all you need as a player, because if you understand what he's thinking and you get his backing on certain things then you can go and crack on do what you do."

HSBC London Sevens will have for the first time, Samsung Slider, which will provide a parallel viewing to the Twickenham pitch allowing fans to have a more realistic experience.

Ford was among those to trial the slider on Friday and he believes it will keep the fans closer to the action than being in the stands.

"Sitting here it's as close as I've ever experienced to the pitch," said Ford.

"It will give the fans a greater appreciation of how big the collisions are, to ultimately see how testing the game actually is.

"From the stands the game can sometimes look easier than it actually is, so fans will perhaps appreciate that a bit more."

Rugby fans are set to enjoy the greatest live sports viewing experience in the world as the Samsung Slider arrives at Twickenham for the HSBC London Sevens.