Some of them actually went on to see action in the tournament as the hosts crashed out at the pool stage.
Preliminary squads for pre-tournament training camps are always bloated to ensure there are numbers for live sessions, to account for injuries and other similar factors.
It also allows the coaching staff to get a closer look at players who they don’t normally get chance to bring into camp.
Because of the bloated nature of the squads, it means some left-field names tend to get a call up and four years ago, there were certainly a few that were filed under ‘unexpected’.
Here are some of the players you might forget were named in the squad…
1. Danny Cipriani
He’s never far away from the headlines in regards to England and it was the same four years ago. Often forgotten, the mercurial fly-half did actually make the initial training squad but wasn’t selected in the World Cup squad. He’s probably in the exact same position four years on.
2. Lee Dickson
His last of 22 caps in the England jersey is when he played against the All Blacks during the 3-test series in summer 2014. However, he ended up being the fifth choice behind Ben Youngs, Danny Care, Richard Wigglesworth, and Joe Simpson.
Embed from Getty Images3. Alex Corbisiero
The then 27-year-old, capped 20 times by England, made his last appearance in the white jersey against France in the build up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. He won the Premiership and European Challenge Cup in 2014 but knee, shoulder and lower-back injuries had limited club and country progress. Following injuries, he’s intitially left Saints in January 2016, planning to return to the game after a year break but changed his mind and persued a career in the media.